BRETT Kearney has to be just about the bravest man in the NRL, or the luckiest.
The exciting Sharks fullback this week told of his amazing comeback from two skull fractures. His courage has left Cronulla team-mates stunned, with even coach Ricky Stuart oblivious to Kearney's injury history.
"You're joking ... that's ridiculous,'' Sharks prop Ben Ross said when told of Kearney's past.
Kearney was a featherweight teenager, playing for the Kincumber Colts, when he collapsed after cracking his head against the knee of a team-mate. His 13th birthday was spent undergoing surgery to repair the damage.
"I went in to make a tackle and swung around and hit one of my mates' knees,'' Kearney said. ``At the time, I thought it was unlucky. But looking back now, I was pretty lucky.
"They cut me from ear to ear, over the top of my head and peeled down my face to repair it. That freaked me out.''
The young halfback persevered, dismissing his mother's plea to wear headgear. He even played without a mouthguard until he was 18.
At 19, Kearney's energy and speed won the attention of former Souths coach Paul Langmack, and in 2003 he made his first-grade debut.
"I started coming off the bench at hooker and by about round seven or eight, I'd finally got my way into halfback ... then I fractured my skull again,'' he said.
"I went in for a tackle, Peach (David Peachey) ducked under me, and me and Lee Hookey clashed heads.
"It was the second time, right in the same spot. I got up dazed, I really didn't know what was going on.
"The first thing I can remember is walking off the field. The trainer at the time was taking me off and my nose was bleeding and for some reason I just knew I'd done it again.
"I walked off and the doc said there's a clear golf ball-sized dent in your head.
"Straight away I thought, 'oh no, here I go again, I'm going to have to go through the same surgery'.
"The second time, though, they did it differently, which made it a lot easier. They just cut me under the eyebrows.''
Tomorrow night, Kearney will face off against his former club, the Rabbitohs, undeterred by his past.
"It sounds strange to say, but I'd rather have a fractured skull than a major knee injury ... I don't run on my skull,'' Kearney said.
