Manly back-rower Glenn Stewart’s desperation to stay on the field in the 2012 NRL season didn’t cost him an arm and leg, but it almost cost him a finger.
The sidelined Test and NSW Origin star has revealed the left middle finger he first dislocated in last year’s opening round match got so bad he had to have a prosthetic joint put in.
“I was in the wars a little bit last year, round one I dislocated it and did a bit of damage to the tendons,” said Stewart, who is rehabilitating following a second bout of knee surgery that’s expected to sideline him till about round eight.
“I had surgery (on the finger) straight after that and had seven weeks off.
“I came back and about two weeks after I re-did it.
“Pretty much for the rest of the year it was dislocated.
“It was the wrong part of the year to have more time off and rehab it.
“So I did a bit more damage playing with it, then went in for surgery again.
“I ended up getting a prosthetic joint put in. It’s half ceramic, half plastic.
“I wasn’t in very good shape at all. The joint was pretty badly corroded away.
“Doctor (Mark) Perko has done an amazing job to get it back to where it is.”
So ugly did the finger become that Stewart claimed teammate Jason King had to leave the dinner table one night because it was turning him off his food.
Stewart said he had no strength to grip with the finger last year, and after the surgery he had to have rehabilitation three times a week to get the finger to operate normally “because everything had been stuck out of place for so long it had to be taught again.”
But while his finger woes may be behind him, Stewart has another battle to get back on the field with the knee he had cleaned out at the back-end of last year requiring a second round of surgery.
Stewart said his reached a point in his rehabilitation from the first operation and couldn’t go any further.
Then at the start of last month he went under the knife again, with a return not expected until about round eight.
“It was a lot of hard work to get back, and to be starting from scratch again was pretty frustrating considering this time of year you want to be starting in round one,” Stewart said.
“Now I am back doing what I was doing before Christmas.”
Andrew Sutherland
Roar Guru
oikee, Did you damage your finger playing or typing? :)
Bazzio
Roar Guru
You said it mate ~ hole in one!
oikee
Guest
If we've got the planning right, if we've got the finances right then we can deliver. And I've got my coach Bronwyn Bishop to make sure I perform on and off the field.'' Former Senate president Kerry Sibraa is heading a Brookvale Oval Committee tasked with finding ways to salvage the historic ground. ''It was great to see Tony there and other respected politicians,'' Sea Eagles general manager David Perry said. ''It was positive what he said in regards to the future of Brookvale Oval.'' This should be a landslide to the opposition this year. The round grounds built in this country will be rusty money pits in 10 years time. The government has got to start building rectangle grounds, for internationals, for 3 codes who at best, have a 52 thousand rectangle ground of standard world class to play out of, Suncorp. Look, we are 30 years behind other countries, and 30 years behind in stadiums. Lets keep in mind, only 3 thousand tickets will be available to fans of origin in Queensland this year, ? only 3 thousand. The rest are sold to Maroon members and the 3 Queensland clubs, and you would be mad not to buy thwem, Otherwise you never get to see them at Suncorp. This is what has happened to this country, detieriated, gone backwards. It is a damm shame.
oikee
Guest
Good, that will make it easier for the Broncos to give them a hiding on Friday night, no Glen to look after his little brother. Surely we must be able to beat Manly, if not it could be a long year. I have one of those, mine is a prosthetic knuckle on my index finger, i have only 20% movement. Good luck boys. My expectations are very low this year.
Mals
Guest
A true Manly warrior. Look forward to seeing him pull the maroon & white jersey on about 6 rounds in. I doubt he will miss 2 months of footy.
B.A Sports
Guest
probably got it stuck in one too many eye sockets with all those swinging arms and high tackles of his..
Chui
Guest
Maybe it was RSI from flipping it at David Gallop for his brother.
Bearfax
Guest
Hopoate is back assisting at Manly. Surely he can be of assistance. He knows a lot about those things.