NRL 2020: Tom Flegler opts for surgery on dodgy shoulder
Tom Flegler celebrates his 21st birthday on Wednesday and is about to undergo his third shoulder reconstruction, but, the Broncos young gun faces “a long recovery” to get back on the NRL field.
NRL
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Brisbane young gun Tom Flegler insists his long-term career in the NRL is not under threat as the rookie prop prepares to undergo his third shoulder reconstruction.
Flegler celebrated his 21st birthday on Wednesday but the milestone occasion was tempered by advice from doctors to have surgery immediately and not risk further damage by playing against the Dragons on Friday night.
Underlining his toughness, Flegler considered pulling on the boots against the Dragons to help the club through their injury crisis, but the Tully product ultimately opted to think with his head, not his heart.
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This operation for Flegler is significant. It will be third shoulder reconstruction of his burgeoning career following procedures on his left and right shoulders and there are concerns for his long-term prospects in the game.
Tigers veteran Benji Marshall is proof Flegler can fight back from several surgeries. Marshall has had five shoulder operations, but has gone on to amass more than 300 first-grade games, giving Flegler belief his best years are ahead.
“I‘m confident I can bounce back from this,” Flegler said in his first interview since his season-ending breakdown.
“I‘ve had a couple of shoulder reconstructions before and it’s not fun.
“I‘ve had one on each shoulder so this will be the second reconstruction on my right.
“I will be out for a long time, but I‘m confident I will come back bigger and stronger.
“I‘m not worried about my career. The players here are in great hands at the Broncos and the surgeons we use are great, so I have no worries that I can’t come back from this.
“In fact, I‘m only young so I can get a lot better with more games under my belt.”
Flegler came up with a dropped ball at a critical stage of last week‘s 36-8 loss to the Raiders but few knew the pain the Broncos bookend endured just to get through the 80 minutes.
“I wasn‘t injured coming into the game. I did it on Saturday in a tackle,” he said.
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“It happened from the kick-off in the second half and I felt sore in my shoulder straight away.
“I didn‘t expect it to be this bad, but the scans show I need a reconstruction.
“The thought of playing on (against the Dragons) did cross my mind, but I thought it‘s wiser to look to the future and not risk any further damage to my shoulder.
“It‘s been a hard year, but I’m better off getting it fixed now and getting as much of a pre-season as I can. If I waited until the end of the year, I could miss the start of next season so I didn’t want to do that.
“It‘s going to be a long recovery.”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Tom Flegler opts for surgery on dodgy shoulder