NRL Casualty Ward: Jarrod Croker to miss start of 2021 season with shoulder injury
It was an act of bravery and toughness that stunned the entire coaching and medical staff, but it also has future implications for Canberra as they look ahead to the 2021 NRL season.
NRL
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Jarrod Croker played his final game this year with a shoulder injury that has ruled him out for up to five months — an act of bravery Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has described as “unbelievable.”
In a bitter blow for Canberra, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the Raiders will be without their captain for at least the first four rounds of next season with Croker requiring major off-season shoulder surgery.
According to Stuart, Croker suffered a ruptured rotator cuff and torn labrum (cartilage) just five minutes into the Raiders’ season-ending 30-10 preliminary final loss to eventual premiers Melbourne a fortnight ago.
The entire Canberra coaching and medical staff are stunned that the veteran centre not only remained on the field, but failed to complain about the immense pain he was enduring throughout the match.
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The 279-game centre underwent delicate “bony Bankart lesion” surgery last Tuesday.
Croker also required surgery to repair his ruptured rotator cuff — a similar injury to that which Canberra teammate Jordan Rapana suffered while playing for New Zealand in November, 2018.
The rehabilitation process is a minimum of five months.
Rapana was able to return for round two of the 2019 season and while Croker will undoubtedly strive to achieve a similar timeline of full recovery, the Raiders medical team have placed his return in the vicinity of rounds four and six next year.
“It’s quite an extensive injury and his rehabilitation is important to us all because we want to get him back to 100 per cent,’’ Stuart said.
“It’s typical of Jarrod that nothing was said about it after the match or until now and he did the injury in the first five minutes of the final.
“It was unbelievably courageous that he could play on with it. Incredible really.’’
Having experienced a wretched run of injuries in 2020, news of Croker’s unavailability at the beginning of next season is a bitter blow for Stuart.
However, despite the departure of Bulldogs-bound Nick Cotric — who would’ve proven adequate cover for Croker — Stuart said he had full-faith in his backline depth.
“No doubt someone of Jarrod’s experience and presence in the group will be missing, but an opportunity is there for the likes of Curtis Scott, Bailey Simonsson, Harley Smith-Shields and Matty Timoko,’’ Stuart said.
“It will be up to the boys to show me over the upcoming pre-season who wants it most.’’