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NRL Friday flashbacks: Todd Polglase

Todd Polglase hammered by the defence.
Roar Guru
10th November, 2016
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The ‘honest toiler’ is a term synonymous with rugby league. They’re the players who were perhaps not blessed with the skills of future immortal Johnathan Thurston but none-the-less tried their guts out and made the grade.

There is perhaps no better example of an honest toiler than Todd Polglase. Polglase is one of the more established players in this series. He proved a worthy first grader across three different clubs over six seasons and his career was ultimately ended through injury, not due to off-field indiscretions or simply not being good enough.

With that said, Polglase was never going to play State of Origin or international football – he simply gave 100 per cent every time he stepped onto the field, an admirable quality on its own.

The biggest hurdle that Polglase ran into however, was running into people. I’ve never seen a player be knocked senseless so many times – it was like watching Homer take on Drederick Tatum in The Simpsons.

If there was a betting market for most concussions in a season or for the player most likely to cop a brutal tackle each week, the market would have to be suspended because you just could not go past ‘Poleaxed Polglase’.

In 2004 he was on the receiving end of a brutal high shot from the Roosters Michael Crocker which resulted in Polglase tearing his anterior cruciate ligmanent. That was just one of many bone shattering hits that Polglase endured through his career. I’ve never seen a player take more punishment.

He initially made the grade for the Bulldogs in 2002, filling in for the injured Willie Talau at fullback. It was at Souths that he spent the majority of his career, playing in 38 matches over three seasons and scoring ten tries.

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Polglase moved to the Newcastle Knights in 2007 and made a bright start at his new club, playing in seven games and winning five of them before an ongoing hamstring injury forced him to retire at the tender age of 26.

While it’s unknown what is presently occupying Polglase’s time, I’m sure that researchers would love to study him to gain a further insight on the effects of collisions and concussions on the brain – or alternatively he could hire his body to car manufacturers as a human crash test dummy.

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