North Queensland Cowboys second rower and outdoorsman Scott Bolton has been admitted to surgery after an unfortunate fishing mishap.
Bolton sustained the injury on Tuesday while preparing for a fishing trip. And this isn’t a case of Andrew Symonds-style ‘fishing during a team meeting’ – just a regular spot of leisure for a man who likes to spend his time off chasing the one that got away.
It is believed Bolton cut through his finger with a fishing knife, severing a vital tendon and requiring surgery. He is set to be sidelined for anywhere between two and three months.
Green is already dealing with a knee injury to gun Kiwi Jason Taumololo, so another hit to the forward stocks will make things tougher for the banana benders.
“It’s not good timing,” said a frustrated Green on Tuesday evening.
“He’s had to have an operation on it so he will be out a little while too. They’re saying between eight and 12 weeks, so it’s a big blow. He was in good form for us and did a great job against Newcastle.”
While a forward pack boasting James Tamou, Matt Scott, Ben Hannant, Taumalolo, Gavin Cooper and Ethan Lowe is hardly lacking quality or depth – and Scott Bolton is the definition of workmanlike – that is exactly the point.
The cupboard is pretty bare come Origin time in Townsville, both for the backs (Thurston) and the forwards (everybody else). Tamou, Scott and Hannant have had strong Origin careers and would be likely to get picked, while Gavin Cooper has a chance of sneaking into the Maroons squad.
Aside from games in Sydney and preliminary finals, Origin time brings with it some of the toughest games that the Cowboys play each year. And snagging a win or two without Thursto would go a long way to putting the Cowboys up the pointy end of the ladder come finals time – a place where their list says they belong.
Origin time is Scott Bolton time, and coach Paul Green must be livid that The Bolt put up the Gone Fishin’ sign just ahead of his time to shine.
But a freak fishing mishap is not the first wacky NRL injury, and it won’t be the last. A walk down injury lane shows that our game has a long history of the weird, wonky and wonderful when it comes to the casualty ward.
In 1999, famed non-drinker and NSW coach Wayne Pearce tried to inject a bit of himself into the Blues camp, by organising some team bonding that was less traditional. There would be no boozing, no spurting sauce and no Blake and Dooges’ Bogus Journey. Instead, the team would go on a horsey ride.
While the idea was nice – a bit of horsing around never hurt anyone – Pearce may have forgotten that the men mountains in the Blues camp were not only heavy for the horses to carry, but comparably muscular and also terrifying. Robbie Kearns, who was one of the better forwards in the game at that time, was thrown from his horse, broke his collarbone and missed the entire series.
The series was drawn, giving the Maroons the shield due to the “you won it last year” rule.
Jack Wighton – no relation – decided to engage in a bit of trampoline acrobatics on his bye weekend in 2012. Unfortunately, Wighton decided to have a jump with his brother on the trampoline – because that’s totally what NRL players get up to on their days off – and landed badly, tearing an ankle ligament from his foot and missing four months of football.
Dave Kidwell – a tough Kiwi forward who had missed only two matches in the previous four years due to injury – was brought down by an unlikely tackler in his backyard. Kidwell was having a backyard barbecue, when his toddler daughter decided to sneak up from behind him. When he fell off balance, he tried to avoid her when putting his foot down on the ground.
Result? Torn medial and cruciate ligaments in his knee and out for the 2007 season.
Along with injuries caused by teeth brushing, dog wrestling and stepping on toys, there are plenty of wacky and wonderful stories in the NRL casualty ward.
Outside the NRL, a misplaced cricket ball in the 2005 Ashes series brought down Australian Glenn McGrath, and turned a team that look set to triumph 5-0 to a 2-1 loss (and something about Shane Warne, Freddie Flintoff and the best series ever).
I don’t care if it kept me up at night and had me weeping when Freddie embraced Brett Lee. An England win is still an England win – and it is all due to one measly cricket ball.
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