Canberra Raiders firebrand Corey Horsburgh vows he isn’t changing as he aims to be back this year
Corey Horsburgh is fuelled by anger when out on the footy field, but the Raiders firebrand knows he walks a fine line between using his emotions and them using him.
NRL
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Canberra’s fiery redhead Corey Horsburgh has vowed to maintain his combative ways but will spend his time on the sidelines finetuning his aggression with a breathing specialist.
Horsburgh also declared his intention to make it back on to the field before season’s end after suffering a serious foot injury during Canberra’s one-point loss to Parramatta last Saturday night.
Horsburgh’s emotions boiled over when the 22-year-old unloaded a verbal barrage at Parramatta’s Ryan Matterson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard in separate incidents before giving the crowd a one-finger salute as he walked from the field.
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Horsburgh was clearly emotional after his confrontation with Matterson. He said it was a mixture of aggression and knowing he had been hurt badly which prompted his reaction.
“I’m not very good at hiding emotions,” Horsburgh said.
“It’s the way I play my footy. I like to be aggressive. They were hitting hard and I was hitting hard. I just hurt myself. If I didn’t get hurt, I would’ve happily done it all night. It was nothing against them and I’m sure they have nothing against me.
Corey Horsburgh off with a reported foot injury. Some concern for midfoot sprain/foot fracture as foot caught under tackler. Overall hope he’s OK #NRLEelsRaiders pic.twitter.com/JWeix8TV7g
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) June 27, 2020
“When I was young, you would see me crying on the field. I’ve been pretty good at controlling it (in the NRL). It’s the first time I’ve let it get to me.
“Over this injury time I’ll go back to working on that to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It won’t change the way I play. I will try and keep the emotion. I’m not proud (of flipping the crowd off).”
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On-field trainer and ex-Kangaroo Brett White tried to quell Horsburgh as he limped from the field. Horsburgh also had a heart to heart with coach Ricky Stuart who encouraged him to use his time on the sidelines to work on his mental strength.
“When I get angry, I go into my own world,” Horsburgh said.
“I’m not going to change the way I play but I have to get in check the emotion side. Ricky said he loves it but it will help my footy if I can keep my head. If I lose my head on the field I’m going to be giving away penalties or doing stupid stuff.
“Ricky suggested I see this guy once a week who will help my breathing. It does help if you just close your eyes and take yourself from where you are for a couple of seconds and you just forget about it. I was a bit too far gone (during the game) to do a bit of breathing.”
Horsburgh had surgery to repair his damaged foot last week. Doctors have told him to expect four months on the sideline with the Lisfranc injury which would all but end his hopes of a return during the abbreviated season.
“I’m really hoping it’s just 12 weeks and I get back for the end of the year,” Horsburgh said. “It’s a bit of a weird injury. It’s a hard one to heal. I’ve got to learn how to use my toes again.
“I’m not the best spectator.”
Originally published as Canberra Raiders firebrand Corey Horsburgh vows he isn’t changing as he aims to be back this year