State of Origin 2015: Robbie Farah enters NSW folklore after playing through extreme pain
James Hooper The Daily Telegraph June 20, 2015 9:00PM SHARE
The x-ray that proves Farah’s toughnes
THIS is the x-ray which illustrates why Robbie Farah has entered NSW folklore as an Origin player prepared to play through the pain barrier.
Blues doctor Nathan Gibbs has hailed Farah’s performance to play Origin I and II with a grade three AC shoulder separation as one of the more courageous performances in rugby league’s most unforgiving arena.
Gibbs is well qualified to comment, having worked as the NSW Origin team doctor in two separate stints for 14 years, initially from 1989 to 1999 and then again from the time Laurie Daley assumed the reins as head coach in 2013.
The x-ray that proves Farah’s toughness
“It was a complete separation of his AC joint, which is where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade,” Gibbs said.
“That’s normally not an injury that needs surgery but it usually takes six to eight weeks to recover.
“As you can see on the MRI there’s lots of blood and fluid and trauma associated with the injury. And of course, pain.
“The thing for mine which was amazing was Robbie injured the shoulder halfway through the first half of Origin I and kept playing with it.
“We tried to kill some of the pain with pain killers at halftime but you can’t kill all the pain.
“Then come Origin II, three weeks into the recovery from the initial injury, he put his hand up to play again.
“He’s very mentally tough in terms of playing injured. A couple of years ago in game one he broke his cheekbone and just played the game out.
“He only told me about it after the match. But he still played the rest of the series. The whole psyche of playing Origin is if you can’t play tough then you can’t play Origin.
“All through the period I’ve been involved that’s been the nature of the game. In some respects that’s why people love it, that’s what sells the match.”
Farah wanted to back-up in last Friday night’s match for Wests Tigers against Manly but club coach Jason Taylor thought it would be too damaging longer-term.
**The Tigers captain will do everything possible to feature in next Sunday’s match against Penrith at Leichhardt Oval.**
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-2015-robbie-farah-enters-nsw-folklore-after-playing-through-extreme-pain/story-fn31yxah-1227407340362
James Hooper The Daily Telegraph June 20, 2015 9:00PM SHARE
The x-ray that proves Farah’s toughnes
THIS is the x-ray which illustrates why Robbie Farah has entered NSW folklore as an Origin player prepared to play through the pain barrier.
Blues doctor Nathan Gibbs has hailed Farah’s performance to play Origin I and II with a grade three AC shoulder separation as one of the more courageous performances in rugby league’s most unforgiving arena.
Gibbs is well qualified to comment, having worked as the NSW Origin team doctor in two separate stints for 14 years, initially from 1989 to 1999 and then again from the time Laurie Daley assumed the reins as head coach in 2013.
The x-ray that proves Farah’s toughness
“It was a complete separation of his AC joint, which is where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade,” Gibbs said.
“That’s normally not an injury that needs surgery but it usually takes six to eight weeks to recover.
“As you can see on the MRI there’s lots of blood and fluid and trauma associated with the injury. And of course, pain.
“The thing for mine which was amazing was Robbie injured the shoulder halfway through the first half of Origin I and kept playing with it.
“We tried to kill some of the pain with pain killers at halftime but you can’t kill all the pain.
“Then come Origin II, three weeks into the recovery from the initial injury, he put his hand up to play again.
“He’s very mentally tough in terms of playing injured. A couple of years ago in game one he broke his cheekbone and just played the game out.
“He only told me about it after the match. But he still played the rest of the series. The whole psyche of playing Origin is if you can’t play tough then you can’t play Origin.
“All through the period I’ve been involved that’s been the nature of the game. In some respects that’s why people love it, that’s what sells the match.”
Farah wanted to back-up in last Friday night’s match for Wests Tigers against Manly but club coach Jason Taylor thought it would be too damaging longer-term.
**The Tigers captain will do everything possible to feature in next Sunday’s match against Penrith at Leichhardt Oval.**
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-2015-robbie-farah-enters-nsw-folklore-after-playing-through-extreme-pain/story-fn31yxah-1227407340362
