He didn’t know if he needed to be sick or use the toilet when he ruptured his testicle, but after a speedy recovery prop Spencer Leniu is keen to make an impact in his final season at Penrith and push for State of Origin selection.
Leniu suffered the injury during a routine contact drill and was told by doctors he would need up to eight weeks off.
The sensitive blow could not have come at a worst time for the explosive prop, who was being talked up as an interchange option for Brad Fittler’s NSW squad for Origin I.
“I didn’t know if I needed to go to the toilet or throw-up,” said Leniu, who will join the Sydney Roosters next season.
“I ran inside and tried to do a number two, I pushed and my nut was just throbbing. I was like, ‘S**t something’s not right’.”
Spencer Leniu. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
On the advice of the Panthers’ medical team, Leniu was taken to Nepean Hospital where he underwent surgery.
Thankfully for the 22-year-old and his partner Alexia the long-term damage was limited.
“They shaved a quarter of my right nut off,” Leniu said.
“The doctors were so good to me and they let me know that if they had to take the whole nut off that I’d still be able to have kids, because that was my big worry at the time.”
Leniu went to the gym the day after surgery and made his return last Sunday, wearing a protective cup in the Panthers’ win over St George Illawarra.
His comeback game was four weeks ahead of schedule, with Leniu keen to give back to the Panthers in his final season at the club.
The Samoa international had no concerns about contact training but was apprehensive when he was stopped in the street and asked to explain why he wasn’t featuring for Penrith.
“An old lady came up to me and said, ‘I heard you got injured, what happened?’,” Leniu recalled.
“How do I explain to an old lady what I did without being rude? I paused and she sort of said, ‘Oh, you don’t have to tell me honestly’.
“Then I was like, ‘I did something to my balls’, and she just said, ‘Oh, that’s good to know, thank you for being honest’.”
Leniu’s return is timely, with Fittler set to name his squad next week as NSW bid to square the Origin series in Brisbane on June 12.
“I played under-18s and all that stuff and I’m not a big fan of Queensland,” Leniu said.
“If Freddy gives me a call, I’ll rip in.
“Coming from New Zealand there was no initial hate for Queensland but being amongst it in the under-18s and under-20s you build that hatred.”
© AAP
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