Liddle return "one of the great stories" for WT

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Liddle return "one of the great stories" for Wests Tigers
Author - Dan Talintyre
Timestamp - Wed 12 Aug 2020, 08:19 PM

Wests Tigers forward Josh Aloiai was there the night Jacob Liddle's 2019 season was cut short with an awful injury.

Having finally got his shot at the starting number nine jersey, the talented young rake would last less than one half of football against the Sea Eagles — suffering a complex knee injury that saw him tear several ligaments.

Fast forward twelve months and one day and Liddle is set to run out for his first game in season 2020.

In addition to being a crucial two points for the club, it's a huge milestone for the rake who had been forced to work extremely hard — often on his own — throughout the competition shut-down and eventual return earlier this year.

The occasion of Liddle's pending return wasn't lost on his Wests Tigers teammates.

"It's pretty exciting," Aloiai said of the team news.

"It could be a huge opportunity for him.

"I think it'll be one of the great stories for him to come back.

"He's had a really special attitude right throughout his recovery process. He comes in and has a laugh and joke with the boys, even though some days it's so tolling being in rehabilitation and battling everything he's gone through.

"It'll be one of the great stories when he comes back and plays NRL again — I'll be so happy for him to be out there."

"I think everyone in the club and all the boys are so excited to see Lids get his chance," Matt Eisenhuth echoed.

"He's worked his butt off to be in a position to be ready. He's done everything right because he's the type of kid that if you ask him to do something then he's going to do it.

"He'll even go beyond that to make sure he's doing things right.

"Everyone has got full faith in him to step up and do that role."

Having not played a match all year — and with no Canterbury Cup to get match fitness up to speed — Liddle's teammates said they held no fear for his fitness or capabilities having proved that time and time again at training.

"If he's thrown in then he'll be thrown in because he's ready," Aloiai said.

"The good thing about Jacob is that he's extremely fit; he could probably roll out with an injured knee and beat half of us in the fitness testing.

"He's really fit and disciplined. He's put on some really good size and I'll be excited to see him come back when he's ready."
 
Josh doing more and more press. Won't be surprised if he's next in line for captaincy.
Best of luck for the weekend Jacob.
 
@Spacecub said in [Liddle return "one of the great stories" for WT](/post/1203991) said:
Best of luck Jacob...you deserve a break

Spacehub!
PUN NOT INTENDED!!!!
😂
 
I wont get to excited,but hope he has a successful return to NRL....it would be nice to have a player with exceptional talent at least to play some footy for us.....

Ive seen it all before so I wont get my hopes up ...God bless the man...
 
When you think of it..not playing a games for more than 12 months on the back of a terrible injury he hit the ground running...threw himself into it ..probably could be forgiven to be a bit gun shy but he wasn't...will be better for that run..

Welcome back Jacob..
 
very hopeful he builds on that and gets some miles under the belt and some confidence towards the back end of the year before having a massive pre-season as the #1 hooker at the club and repays the faith both the club have had in him since we picked him up as a kid. so bloody happy for him.
 
@Geo said in [Liddle return "one of the great stories" for WT](/post/1207095) said:
When you think of it..not playing a games for more than 12 months on the back of a terrible injury he hit the ground running...threw himself into it ..probably could be forgiven to be a bit gun shy but he wasn't...will be better for that run..

Welcome back Jacob..

Was outstanding for a first game back from injury.
61 mins out there 44tackles 98run meters.
I know stats are stats but stats like that after a 12 month lower body injury lay-off.
 
Liddle vs Grant? I would take Liddle to be in the side anytime. The service he provides from dummy half is exquisite. It is very noticeable, you can see and feel the difference.
 
Agree with the above comment.
If you watch the Brooks field goal, the liddle pass from dummy half was a bullet. It gave Brooks an age to launch his kick.

Compared to Benji's earlier attempt, brooks slow pass from dummy half took away Benji's time to kick (admittedly he was not deep enough and should have recieved the penalty for contact with kickers legs).

Liddle should have also won the penalty in front on the previous play the ball which was a dessert penalty any other time. Refs get stage fright if they have to decide a game, but that is their job.

It was a great return and liddle hopefully has a great career from here on. A lot of players have early injury problems but can then get past them. Who would have thought Benji would play 15 years plus with his shoulder dramas early on?
 
Great too see him back on the field. Looked like he hadn't been out for so long either, with such good match fitness considering.
 
It was great to see him get past that gut check at the 10 min mark, he was really blowing, great sign of character, but looks like he has lost some pace, his service from dummy half was great, well done JL
 
Noticeably bigger too, was Liddle.
He was always a tall kid in the 20s but slight frame.
He has done a really good job bulking up. I guess when your off for near 12 months due to a leg injury you can spend time building up your upper body.
We are going to be fine if we can’t secure Grant or Smith from the storm but if we have both, Either one could definitely spend time at lock.
At this stage grant wins the battle on form and competitive streak but Liddle has a lot of a Cameron Smith composure about him that might just be more important in games then a player that plays up tempo.
Next couples of weeks will be interesting.
 
@4jtigers said in [Liddle return "one of the great stories" for WT](/post/1207197) said:
Liddle vs Grant? I would take Liddle to be in the side anytime. The service he provides from dummy half is exquisite. It is very noticeable, you can see and feel the difference.

To be fair they both give great service from dummyhalf. I don't think we can go wrong with either and both should be used in tandem in the middle. I wouldn't be opposed to 40 minutes each to keep them both fresh.
 

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