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Newcastle Knights forward Tyson Frizell has opened up on the horror injury that changed his NRL career – and the way that he thought about his body.
The Blues and Australia star copped one of the worst injuries imaginable while playing for the Dragons in their season opener in Townsville back in 2019: a ruptured testicle.
Writing exclusively in Athlete’s Voice, Frizell detailed the gruesome incident with Cowboys’ fullback Jordan Kahu.
“It was the start of the 2019 season, the very first game of the year up in North Queensland, and it’s so very hot and sweaty at that time of year,” wrote the back-rower.
“I was going in for a kick chase and the fullback jumped up to catch the ball but mistimed as I was flying in to make a tackle. He caught a ball alright. I ended up with a ruptured testicle.”
“We went to the local hospital for a quick MRI and by the time I’d got there, it had grown to the size of a small orange. Luckily a surgeon was available, and I managed to get it sorted that night.
When you think of who has the biggest balls in the NRL – for at least one night, I did.”
The injury might be the most painful of his career, but it is far from the only one. Now an elder statesman of the NRL with over 200 games in the top grade, Frizell has learned plenty about how best to stay fit and ready for the rigours of the world’s toughest rugby competition.
“When you’re going on the field, you have to believe that if you’ve put in the training and built up your body to be as strong as possible that you’re giving yourself the best chance of not getting injured,” he wrote.
“It’s about knowing that you’ve put in the work to get yourself as optimally prepared as possible, doing the hard yards so that you know that when you go out on the field you can just concentrate on doing your best.
“You can ask any player: if you’re not 100% in training, especially in contact, that’s when people get hurt because they’re not using the proper technique.”
You can catch Tyson Frizell’s full article on Athlete’s Voice.