The Sydney Roosters’ doctor admits he lost sleep fearing pain-killing injections on Cooper Cronk’s broken shoulder blade wouldn’t work in the NRL grand final.
Many and varied measures the Roosters considered to get their prized halfback on the field have been revealed by club doctor Ameer Ibrahim after Cronk defied injury to inspire their 21-6 win over Melbourne in the season decider.
Everything from a police escort to bone stimulators were weighed up by the Tri-Colours in the frantic race against time to overcome Cronk’s “car crash” injury.
Cronk may require surgery after Ibrahim revealed the halfback played with a 15cm fracture across the width of his shoulder blade – usually an injury whuch needs a two-month recovery.
Ibrahim finally thought he had found a solution to getting Cronk on the field after a successful test with painkillers on two games before Sunday’s decider.
However, it didn’t stop him worrying on grand final eve.
“I had a rough night thinking ‘what if the injection doesn’t work?’,” Ibrahim told AAP.
“On the Friday we did a test injection and he was amazing. He was able to lift his arm above his head, do push-ups and tackle, wrestling the physio.
“The question was how can we replicate that and how long would it last?
“One hour and 10 minutes was what we had in mind for how long it would last but normally that time gets chewed up a lot quicker if there is more trauma like people hitting you.”
Simply administering the painkillers on game day served up its own headaches for Ibrahim.
Initially he considered getting a CT scan at a specialist near ANZ Stadium to pinpoint the fracture and needle Cronk close to kick-off then get a police escort to the ground.
However, Ibrahim quickly organised grand final accreditation for another specialist who offered to provide and operate an ultrasound machine in the dressing room plus administer the injection just 30 minutes before the kick-off.
They needled up Cronk again at half-time, cutting his jersey off to inject the painkillers.
Asked what other measures they had considered, Ibrahim said: “Anything you can think of.
“He had anti-inflammatories, he had hyperbaric chambers, bone stimulators, lasers, all sorts of braces and splints to keep the fracture together, different strapping ideas.
“The fracture is what you see with car crashes. I thought he was no chance.
“At one stage he had trouble doing his shoe laces. I thought ‘you have a fracture, you are out’ but Robbo (coach Trent Robinson) wanted to give him every chance to play.”
Like most, Ibrahim was in awe of Cronk’s bravery after the Roosters’ win, feeling it may even surpass the grand final feats of John Sattler playing with a broken jaw in 1970 and Sam Burgess defying a fractured cheekbone in 2014.
“They (Sattler, Burgess) are legends of the game but for me to come into the game already injured and play 80 minutes is mind blowing,” Ibrahim said.
Haz
Guest
Um, no. Sattler and Burgess couldn't be protected in the defensive line and couldn't hang out at the wing since they're forwards. But it was a brave effort by Cronk, I can give him that.
Peter
Guest
Dogs Boddy, thanks for your reply. I'm still not convinced. "We'll give you 9cc of goop so you can play at what we say is your normal level, but not 10cc because we judge that would enable you to play better than you usually do." Hmmmmm. Best we leave it, I think!
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
It's certainly a grey area mate. I guess it doesn't really enhance their performance, it just allows them to participate as if they didn't have an injury. I think if they stopped players taking pain killers we may run out of people to field teams by the end of the season.
Peter
Guest
Hurray for Cooper Cronk and his huge role in the result - brave move by the coach as well. But - while I'm sure all the drugs were completely legal, I thought the point was that players are not supposed to take performance-enhancing drugs. How on earth were painkillers which made the difference between playing and not playing not "performance enhancing"? This is not anti-Cronk or anti-Roosters. The same question applies to any playing/not playing injury and treatment. I'd really appreciate some thoughts on this!