‘Is that normal?’ Gordon returns to field after scary concussion journey

Waratahs captain Jake Gordon has opened up on the anxiety he felt during his recovery from back-to-back concussions last year, which derailed a stint at French club Toulon, denied him a potential World Cup call-up and forced the halfback to spend almost seven months on the sidelines.

Gordon will return to action for the Waratahs on Saturday in a trial against the Reds in Roma, in rural Queensland. It will be the skipper’s first game since July, when Gordon suffered a concussion playing for Australia A against Tonga in Nuku’alofa.

It was Gordon’s second concussion in five weeks, as he’d also suffered a head knock in the Waratahs’ final regular season game against Moana Pasifika in June. Gordon missed the quarter-final defeat to Auckland a week later.

Having missed selection in Eddie Jones’ Wallabies squad, Gordon signed a short-term deal with Toulon in July but, after the second concussion in Tonga, medical tests led to the deal being voided.

“It’s not ideal copping two knocks within a month, and I ended up failing the medical over at Toulon when I got over there,” Gordon said.

“They were great and my health was the most important thing, and they treated it really, really well. I saw three specialists over there – an optometrist, a neurologist and a cognitive specialist – and they all said to me I needed some time off.

Jake Gordon at Waratahs training at Daceyville, before a trial against the Reds in Roma.Credit: Steven Siewert

“Running the risk of copping a third in a short amount of time wasn’t ideal. So there was nothing alarming but we came to the agreement that I wouldn’t fulfil the contract and I’d get home and have a bit of time off.”

Speculation swirled in late August, after the Wallabies’ warm-up game against France and with the deadline for World Cup squads imminent, that Jones was considering a late swap for one of his halfbacks and bringing in Gordon. Wallabies medical staff made inquiries but were told the 20-cap halfback was not available.

The 30-year-old took a few months off, had a light training load when he returned to the Waratahs late in the year, and resumed full contact work only in January. With the long-term impacts of concussion an increasingly topical issue, Gordon said he suffered from anxiety through his slow recovery.

“I was obviously a little bit anxious and I guess the unknown was scaring me a little bit, of when I was going to come good,” he said.

Jake Gordon training ahead of his return to action.Credit: Steven Siewert

“I stopped reading stuff on it because I was like, ‘Oh is that me?’ I can be neurotic at times sometimes thinking, ‘Is that normal? Is that not normal?’ But I’m back to full health now and really excited for the weekend.”

Gordon is entering his eighth season with the Waratahs, and his fourth as captain of the side. Though he extended with Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby for two more seasons last year, Gordon said the clock was ticking in terms of securing some silverware.

Last season, the confident Waratahs were aiming to improve on a sixth-placed finish in 2022 and publicly targeted a finish in the top four. But they ended up in the same spot, and went out in the quarter-finals again.

“It was a funny year last year. We probably brought it on ourselves a little bit, around our expectation as a team. Super Rugby is a pretty short competition. You don’t have a heap of time to get into it,” Gordon said.

Jake Gordon runs against the Highlanders in 2023.Credit: Getty

“The expectation we put on ourselves at the start of the year coming out [with a target] openly, and I was guilty of it too, talking up an ambition to be in the top four … I’d probably think it had a negative effect.

“We’ve changed a little bit this pre-season and how we’ve trained. Looking at rugby nowadays and its intervals of 30 seconds, and it’s heading towards a little bit more of a power game. I think we’ve got a team that really suits that.”

Meanwhile, Brumbies boss Phil Thomson has played down suggestions the franchise could follow the Melbourne Rebels and enter voluntary administration.

The Rebels face an uncertain future after being placed in VA, due to mountains of debt – reportedly as high as $20 million – owed to the Tax Office, Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust and a range of creditors.

The Brumbies are also under financial stress but say they are solvent and that their situation is directly linked to a $1.7 million per year funding shortfall from Rugby Australia. Informed sources, who requested anonymity so they could speak freely, say the Brumbies’ debt is about $1 million and being paid down.

“We won’t be going into voluntary administration. We don’t have the level of debt to require that course of action,” Thomson said on Tuesday.

The Brumbies last year blasted Rugby Australia for what they perceived to be a hostile takeover, and said they were prepared to fight in court.

“We have ongoing discussions with Rugby Australia in relation to our financial position and support around that, and the level of funding,” Thomson said.

“And we are on the record as being more than happy to work with Rugby Australia to work on an aligned high-performance program and any commercial alignment that benefits rugby as a whole, to increase revenue. We have gone to Rugby Australia with a solution to that problem and are waiting for Rugby Australia to respond to that.”

All three episodes of the brand new Stan Original Documentary Series The Wallabies - Inside Rugby World Cup 2023 premiere February 22, only on Stan.

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