Thats gunna need more than Aspirin

[spinnerhowland]

“That’s going to need a little more than Aspirin” were the words from Scott Crawley of Focus Physical Therapy this week for the coach of the T-Mobile Axemen.
The term that Rugby League is the Toughest Sport on Earth has started to earn its reputation with some of the Jacksonville Axemen before the season starts. The Axemen will be without center Shawn MacCartey due to a neck injury that will see him sidelined until game two on May 27th and Power running forward Andre Avena is now recovering from a knee injury and will also be unavailable until game two.
Powerhouse prop forward Tim Stouder is also receiving treatment for a calf injury but Axemen Physical Therapist, Scott Crawley of Focus Physical Therapy is confident Tim will be at 100% for the May 20th opening game against the Washington DC Slayers.
There have been some other minor injuries to some of the Axemen players but with treatment being on hand from Focus physical therapy and constant evaluation from Scott Crawley, the team expects to get to first game without any further players being added to the “needs a little more than Aspirin list”. Coach, Daryl “Spinner” Howland said, “I push these guys pretty hard because we have a lot to cover before our first game. I have constant communications with Scott and his advice has been invaluable in assessing the extent of player injuries. They are a tough bunch and they all know that they are competing for positions on the team, therefore I have to make sure they are getting professional help and I am getting a professional opinion.”
Rugby League players are traditionally known to play with injuries and many get treatment on the sideline to stop the pain just enough so that they can return to finish the game.
Spinner added, “Some of these guys will “play down” or try and hide their injuries with pain killers, so I go to Scott to get the truth. I understand their desire to make the starting line up every week, but missing the first game or two to get healthy is better than turning a two or three week injury into a seasoning ending one just to get on the field.”
Heavy tackling center Patrick Cox is also sporting a black eye after a heavy contact session during last week practice and even the coach found a little “claret” coming out of his already crooked nose after the session on Tuesday.
The Axemen will name the starting side for the DC Slayers Game this coming Friday, May 5th.

 

[Tomahawk]

Spinner;

Are these injuries happening during practice or live drills/scrimages within the team?

If this is the fact I hate it when the Bulls go contact the same way. That being because I have seen first hand injuries caused to key players because you are going balls *ss at your teammate. Two years ago the Bulls lost their top center and one of the top 5 players in the AMNRL Cory Sheridan in a useless scrimage. In my opinion is that thie type of drill/scrimmage is not worth it.

 

[spinnerhowland]

Practice Hard, Play Easy.

 

[Screech]

With that attitude the Axeman will be a force. I like it Spinneroony!!!

 

[Kurt Angle]

Erhhh spinner, that's quite the other way around for RL in Australia.

When RU went professional, the English clubs they suffered alot of injuries in the early years, as with being able to train in the day without the need for a job.. they were very physical.....

Many RU->RL converts who came back said, and I know myself.... RL training does not involve a great deal of intensity as far as physical collisions go.

They have learnt the body can only take so much punishment and it's best to leave it for game day.

Sure you get run like a dog for cardio-vascular and muscle conditioning.... but as far as the bumps go that stress your joints/ligaments/tendons....that sort of thing is left out.

For scrimmages, usually what you find is the intensity is in running angles and ball handling.... drop balls get punished a lot when I used to play.. but the defensive "play" was just a 2 handed grab.

To practice the physical stuff it was each beating the hell out of tackling bags, or colliding into guys who wore big arse padded vests.

 

[spinnerhowland]

Kurt, you are right, but I only 3 of these guys have even played League before and some have only one year at Union. I need the contact to make sure that they "can tackle". We will lightne stuf up after we get into the season. It will also allow me to weed out anyone that may not have the heart to play the game.
As for a marketing stance, it stories like this also look good for the American public that know nothing about the sport. All they know is that they want to see contact, so to be honest this story was as much a marketing ploy as anything else.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Hehe.. OK... it's when you said "Practice Hard, Play Easy.".. I was picturing a team full of cripples by years end.

 

[brendothejet]

Hehe.. OK... it's when you said "Practice Hard, Play Easy.".. I was picturing a team full of cripples by years end.

Every rugby league competition, across the globe, every team by the end of a season is crippled.

There is nothing tougher than a game of Rugby League.


other than stringing 20 of them in a row week after week.