By Dan Walsh
Like a lot of good things in rugby league, the scene was Henson Park.
On a sun-drenched Saturday at the fabled suburban ground in Marrickville, Cody Ramsey taking bombs, carrying into contact and then trying, and failing, to keep his emotions in check, was as good as rugby league gets.
The Dragons fullback had waited 896 days to do so.
Seven months were spent in a hospital bed across the course of half a dozen surgeries after Ramsey was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a bowel disease that causes inflammation of the digestive tract.
He lost 28 kilograms in just seven weeks. He was told not only that his footy career was over, but that his numerous operations had left him facing potentially life-threatening sepsis complications on three separate occasions.
The chances of Ramsey and his partner Tahlia not being able to have children because of his condition was also raised.
Cody Ramsey takes on the defence for the first time in 896 days.Credit: Dragons Digital
Which is why, on his 25th birthday, the returning No.1 was overcome when greeted on the sidelines by his daughters Mia (one year old) and Ella, born less than three weeks ago.
Ramsey started the second half of the Dragons’ pre-season NSW Cup trial against the Roosters when he punted the kick-off downfield, and summed up his 30-minute cameo aptly when he later trudged towards the Henson sheds.
“We f---ing made history,” he gushed.
Ramsey’s entire family turned out for his long-awaited return, along with Dragons teammates led by prop Blake Lawrie and joined by new Eels flyer Zac Lomax.
Cody Ramsey with family, friends, baby daughters and partner Tahlia after successfully returning to rugby league.Credit: Dragons Digital
It was Lawrie, who has been by Ramsey’s side and hospital bed throughout his recovery, in the young fullback’s sights first once he was called from the field.
“I walked over to ‘Blocka’ [Lawrie] first and he got me going a little bit,” Ramsey told the Dragons website.
“I was already a little bit emotional walking off, and then as soon as I saw my partner and my little girl on the side of the field, you know, you can’t really contain it. I never thought that they’d be able to watch me play a game of football, and today they got the opportunity to.
“Every day that I sat in hospital, I thought about getting out on that field and today I got the opportunity.
“My whole family’s here. It was very emotional, but I feel like I’m well-prepared. I wouldn’t put myself out there if I didn’t think I was in the right position.”
Ramsey is still short of the 90 kilograms he weighed in late 2022, when he first pulled up in agonising pain from a nine-kilometre run during pre-season training.
Late last year he knocked off a significant milestone when he reached 78 kilograms, his playing weight when he made his NRL debut in 2020.
The Dragons have been incredibly careful with his return to contact and match training. The final year of his contract was split across the 2024 and 2025 seasons to ensure Ramsey wasn’t rushing to try and keep his career alive.
Cody Ramsey’s remarkable comeback is gathering momentum.Credit: Sylvia Liber
The bombs taken under pressure and carries into defence on Saturday were just the latest in a summer of stern examination from his teammates.
Ramsey has been adamant throughout his 896-day absence that he will play in the NRL again.
“I’ve had so many messages from kids that have had this happen to them,” Ramsey told this masthead in December. “And I’m in a position now where we’re like, Cody Ramsey’s got the same condition as you, but he’s medically retired, or he’s given up.
“That’s not the Cody Ramsey I want to be. I want to be the first person in the NRL who has played with a small bowel… I don’t want to play the victim. I just want to get on with life.”
On sun-drenched Saturday at Henson Park, life was pretty good for Cody Ramsey.
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