Heamasi Makasini

Benji suggesting he won’t be playing next week which is fair enough. We want to win the next 3 games so Nadens experience is probably the better call.
He just said he wasn't sure, not a definite no, I reckon its 50/50 whether they pick masi or naden, naden was exceptional in koe last game but he was playing 5/8
 
Chris Lawrence debuted as a 17yo school boy and never looked back
Chris Lawrence's body also gave out on him in his late 20s

I love Chris Lawrence, he was my favourite player, but I wonder in retrospect if Tigers did him a disservice by playing him so young. Benji was also plagued with injuries although at the opposite end of his career

Think Masi would benefit from a fulltime preseason to harden up the body a bit before throwing him in.
 
He just said he wasn't sure, not a definite no, I reckon its 50/50 whether they pick masi or naden, naden was exceptional in koe last game but he was playing 5/8

Chris Lawrence's body also gave out on him in his late 20s

I love Chris Lawrence, he was my favourite player, but I wonder in retrospect if Tigers did him a disservice by playing him so young. Benji was also plagued with injuries although at the opposite end of his career

Think Masi would benefit from a fulltime preseason to harden up the body a bit before throwing him in.
His hip replacement at like age 23/24 had nothing to do with his debut at 17.. just bad luck at that time
 
2023

1. Laurie
2. Junior Twopoos
3. Naden
4. Tommy T
5. Stains

2025

1. Bula
2. Tito
3. May
4. Maka
5. Skelton

Come a long way in 24 months.
Even last year we had vs. Parra in the "Spoon-Bowl":

1. Mason
2. Staines
3. Faatape
4. Feledy
5. Tupou

What a change it's been in 12 months. Some of those blokes starting with us last year aren't even in the NSW cup side!
 
Although pretty bad at the time, I think he got over that, I may be wrong but i think he had bad ankle issues which really impacted him
His hamstrings were cooked too. He also had that horrific broken jaw which is obviously unrelated.

I don't know if his career would of panned out differently if his NRL started his career at 20 instead of 17, im just speculating.

By all reports Makasini is probably an exception, so it might not be relevant, but there's a reason you don't see many 17-18 year olds running around the NRL.
 
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Chris Lawrence's body also gave out on him in his late 20s

I love Chris Lawrence, he was my favourite player, but I wonder in retrospect if Tigers did him a disservice by playing him so young. Benji was also plagued with injuries although at the opposite end of his career

Think Masi would benefit from a fulltime preseason to harden up the body a bit before throwing him in.
Age had nothing to do with why his body gave out. He dislocated his hip which broke him in half. Then he had his face crushed in a head on collision during a training mishap. He got batted from pillar to post. Had nothing to do with debuting him at 17.
 
Age had nothing to do with why his body gave out. He dislocated his hip which broke him in half. Then he had his face crushed in a head on collision during a training mishap. He got batted from pillar to post. Had nothing to do with debuting him at 17.
I don't know how you can definitively say they had nothing to do with eachother. The week in week out NRL grind on a developing body could possibly have increased the chances of the hip dislocation, or all the subsequent lower leg injuries.

Again, I don't know this. Im not an expert. Just pointing out that more often than not it is better to ease these kids in.
 
Age had nothing to do with why his body gave out. He dislocated his hip which broke him in half. Then he had his face crushed in a head on collision during a training mishap. He got batted from pillar to post. Had nothing to do with debuting him at 17.
The injuries he suffered in that training accident were likened to a car accident...everything in your face you can break, he broke...changed his allearance forever too.

Id.love to know exactly what happened...
matulino involved iirc?
 

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