Young Eel trapped by north's floods
Glenn Jackson
January 4, 2011
THEY'VE endured the retirement of Eric Grothe, the departure of Timana Tahu and now, just when Parramatta were hoping the new year would bring with it a change of fortune, one of the Eels' stars is stranded in flood-stricken northern Queensland.
Tom Humble, the highly rated Eels playmaker, had been spending time with his father and sister in his home town of Blackwater since Christmas Eve. But the flood crisis, which has ringed his small town with water, could end up extending his holiday and eating into the Eels' pre-season.
After originally planning to fly from flooded Rockhampton tomorrow, Humble has now been booked on a flight from Emerald, one which might or might not actually take to the skies.
''I should be able to get to Emerald,'' Humble told the Herald last night. ''The water's going down so I should be right. As long as we don't get any more rain out west, hopefully I'll be gone by Wednesday.''
The Eels will return to training on Thursday, but Humble was careful not to over-dramatise his own predicament given the seriousness of the crisis elsewhere.
''The town's run out of bread and milk, but it's not too bad,'' he said. ''I'm not really bothered by it because there's plenty of food around. There's a few people panicking and stocking up on all sorts of things but you don't really need milk and bread. There's water in the tap and we've got plenty of meat and a bit of other stuff like packets of pasta.
''People in other towns are losing houses, losing properties, crops and cars. We're all right
Nothing's really been damaged - there's just a few tadpoles swimming in the backyard.''
Humble has been in contact with Eels coach Stephen Kearney as well as chief executive Paul Osborne, and has been trying to train as much as he can. ''We had a pretty big eight weeks [before Christmas] so I want to maintain my fitness,'' he said.
Osborne said: ''I've been talking to him every couple of days. We've got him booked on a flight on Wednesday so hopefully he'll be all right to get that. It's just one of those things. Training's the least of the problems when you think of what's going on up there.''
Humble made his NRL debut in round 10 against Manly last season, going on to play six matches. He is seen as a prospect for a halves spot this year, having been tipped for success by none other than club legend Peter Sterling.
