Tough unit Jai Arrow to face Blues with 8mm quad tear in Origin I

Queensland and Gold Coast enforcer Jai Arrow is well known as one of rugby league’s toughest players, and his recent quad injury has reinforced his status among the game’s hardest characters.

Jai Arrow will play Origin I with a torn quad. Picture: Adam Head

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Queensland prop Jai Arrow will underline his toughness by playing Origin I this Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium with an 8mm tear in his quadriceps.

The Courier-Mail can reveal scans sent to Titans medicos have uncovered a grade-one tear that has left Arrow racing the clock to prove his fitness for the series opener against the Blues.

But Arrow has declared nothing will stop him taking the field, pointing to his painful experience last year when he carried broken ribs into an early-season clash against the Warriors.

Jai Arrow will play Origin I with a torn quad. Picture: Adam Head

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Arrow reached straight for the ice at the conclusion of Maroons training on Thursday at Davies Park and admits he has never been so professional in rehabilitation to ensure he is not ruled out of Origin I.

“To be honest, it’s the best I’ve ever looked after an injury,” said Arrow, who strained his upper leg just 24 hours before the Titans’ clash against Manly last Friday night.

“I’ve been getting treatment twice a day and every time I get some spare time in my room, I put the Game Ready (icing and compression device) on my leg for as long as I can.

“There’s a few times I’ve been using the Game Ready for a few hours just sitting with it strapped on.

Arrow will play through pain in the opener. Picture: Adam Head

“I’m giving the injury the best opportunity to be 100 per cent come Wednesday night.”

Maroons halfback Daly Cherry-Evans’ round-the-clock approach to returning from ankle surgery cut his recovery time by a staggering 21 days and inspired Arrow to get serious about his own injury setback.

When doctors informed Arrow of his minor tear, the Titans workhorse was so blinkered in his desire to play in Origin I he refused to listen to anything they were saying.

“I don’t know the exact size of the injury,” he said. “To be honest I didn’t want to hear the extent of it. When the physios told me, I kept my ears shut and said, ‘Don’t worry I will be sweet for Origin, I will do what I can to get it right.

The moment @GCTitans lock Jai Arrow feels a twinge in his upper leg. Still waiting to hear how he’s looking for tomorrow night’s @SeaEagles clash @9NewsGoldCoast @nrlphysio pic.twitter.com/itNVNldar0

— Dominique Loudon (@dloudon9) May 23, 2019

“It makes a massive difference when you treat an injury properly.

“When you are growing up as a young kid, you think you are 10-feet tall and bullet proof and you get away from all the little things with recovery and icing your niggles and injuries.

“It (injury management) is definitely something I’ve become more professional with over the past 12 months, that’s for sure.”

Leading Brisbane-based physiotherapist Brien Seeney, who operates the popular NRL Physio social media account, believes Arrow can be fit for Origin I.

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“It would usually be considered a minor muscle injury,” he said of Arrow’s setback.

“The specific location of the tear plays a significant role in determining function level and recovery time.

“Some players may not miss game time with a minor quadriceps or hip flexor injury like this, but more commonly they would require one-to-three weeks on the sideline to fully recover.”

Originally published as Tough unit Jai Arrow to face Blues with 8mm quad tear in Origin I