Farewell White Lightning, the NRL grinder’s latest victim

It’s a brutal game, rugby league. A grinder that works away at the bodies of those who play, no matter what standard and no matter what grade.

Sometimes the grinder appears out of nowhere in the sudden, horrible ending of promising careers.

In 2009 the Wests Tigers’ Taniela Tuiaki was putting on one of the most devastating seasons we’d seen from a winger until his ankle was wrecked in a tackle against Parramatta during Round 24. Tuiaki retired in 2011 and still has difficulty walking.

Another Wests Tigers player, Simon Dwyer, left the game in 2011 after the second rower suffered a brachial plexus injury in a heavy collision against Canterbury Bankstown in just his 35th game.

A brachial plexus injury is when a nerve in the arm or shoulder is torn from the spinal cord. Dwyer had five nerves torn form his spinal cord. It cost him the use of his right arm.

Jharal Yow Yeh was an electrifying winger for the Brisbane Broncos who had played Origin for Queensland and Tests for Australia before badly breaking his ankle in 2012. He was never able to recover completely and retired in 2014 aged 24.

It’s hard to forget Newcastle second rower Alex McKinnon’s 2014 spinal injury suffered after a tackle against Melbourne went wrong, leaving him paralysed. This weekend his former teams St George Illawarra and Newcastle will play for the inaugural Alex McKinnon cup.

Granted, these are all fairly extreme examples of career-ending injuries. But if the grinder doesn’t usually get you in one big hit, it’ll definitely catch up to you. There’s an enormous cohort of players who’ve had to retire due to the cumulative physical effect of the game.

Manly 1996 premiership second rower and New South Wales Origin player Nik Kosef underwent four knee reconstructions before he was 28. He played 158 games before pulling the pin in 2002.

Former Roosters, Raiders, Titans and Queensland prop David Shillington played 13 seasons before multiple injuries to his shoulders, pectoral muscles and a thumb wore him down and forced his retirement in 2017.

Manly Warringah teammates Brett Stewart and Steve Matai couldn’t get over chronic injuries that saw them bow out of the game after distinguished careers.

Canterbury’s Kieran Foran was praised mightily by his teammates for toughing out a syndesmosis injury (that’s your ankle joint) and spearheading the Bulldogs’ first win of the year against Wests Tigers last week.

Tough, gritty, performing when his team needed him. But Foran’s now having surgery and is going to miss almost three months of football at a time when his career is very much at a crossroads.

Kieran Foran of the Bulldogs (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

With some clear air after constant injuries and well-publicised personal issues, 2019 was supposed to be Foran’s return to the form we know he’s capable of, but the grinder has got him again.

I could go on. And on. And on. The toll the game takes on those who play it is phenomenal.

And this week we add Newcastle Knights flyer Nathan Ross to this list, forced to close the curtains on an NRL career of four seasons for 60 games and 23 tries.

Ross has been one of my favourite players since he burst onto the scene in 2015. His play was exciting, fast, acrobatic, and always done with a palpable sense of fun and enjoyment.

But after off-season surgery to treat chronic groin and pelvis injures his body couldn’t come up for the rigours of another year.

Ross’ story is what’s great about sport. A tale of persistence, self-belief and getting the most out of yourself. He gave up a six-figure job working in a coal mine to take $25,000 on a part-time contract. Wayne Bennett, when Newcastle coach in 2013, famously told Ross he wouldn’t make it in the NRL.

The many stories circulating this week after Ross’ likely retirement became public showed a man who loves to meet the fans, appreciates their support and understands that he can make someone’s day with just a photo, a pat on the back or a quick chat. He’s an authentic character in an increasingly spun and stage-managed sporting world.

It’s well worth listening to Ross’ 2016 interview on The Locker Room podcast to better understand just how hard he worked to get his foothold at the Knights and into first grade.

Ross was a shining light for supporters who regularly dragged themselves to home games they knew they weren’t going to win. Newcastle fans are loyal and kept turning up even when the team was at its lowest and Ross did whatever he could to give them a highlight or two to take home, no matter the final score.

But now he’s done at just 30 years old and with debilitating injuries that are going to follow him long into the night. It’s a real shame he’s had to go out like this, but the grinder rarely lets a player choose the way they want to finish.

Injuries are a constant in the game. Almost every player running out this weekend will be carrying a knock of some kind or will have spent hours in the hands of the doctors and trainers during the week trying to get right for the 80 minutes. Getting hurt and playing hurt is the cost of doing business. Players and (usually) fans understand that.

But at times like this, I really don’t like it.