‘I woke up handless’: Return-to-field imminent for Premier Women’s rugby star months on from double-wrist surgery

Four months on from undergoing a gruelling double wrist surgery which left her ‘handless,’ Bond University star Gabriella Rivers is suiting up for the side’s third consecutive Queensland Premier Rugby grand final. Full story:

Four months on from undergoing a gruelling double wrist surgery that left her ‘handless,’ Bond University rugby star Gabriella Rivers is suiting up for the side’s third consecutive Queensland Premier Women’s Rugby grand final.

Rivers injured her right wrist in March 2024 while playing Hong Kong’s club rugby series (Nan Fung), but with the pain at least manageable - “it was uncomfortable” - she continued playing. WHEN

It was later at the Hong Kong SVNS tournament in April, she suffered an injury to her left which caused her to reconsider playing through pain.

Gabby Rivers, rugby player.

She opted for a check up on her right wrist, which after one month, was beginning to worsen rather than subside.

“I thought well this is enough I can’t have both this painful,” as Bond prepares to play for a historic three-peat feat QPR titles.

Scans showed her right wrist was in fact broken and would require surgery, the hand specialist just needing a comparison x-ray done to know what kind of ligament damage required ‘fixing.’

That comparison x-ray is what uncovered the second blow: Rivers’ left wrist was also broken.

So, double surgery it was. One week out from the scheduled operation, doctors added a note: fix both.

“I woke up handless,” Rivers said.

Gabby Rivers in hospital post-double wrist surgery

She was given the option of undergoing two separate surgeries but elected otherwise.

“The recovery time would have been longer so I just went for it,” she explained.

“I had proper casts for two or three weeks, and once they removed the casts I had very minimal function.

“I couldn’t tie my hair, someone had to cut up my food, I couldn’t wash my hair or put my clothes on properly.”

The process of being somewhat self-sufficient, to the stage of tieing her own hair and getting dressed, took over a month.

“It was just so debilitating,” she said.

“The only positive thing was not having to rack and unrack my weights in the gym.”

That’s right - Rivers stepped into a gym and continued her program - albeit modified - one week after her double wrist surgery.

Gabby Rivers, rugby player.

“I still went to my training, I would just have someone follow me around and help.”

Rivers continues to follow that modified training program, but you wouldn’t know it given her prompt return to the field.

“Initially I wasn’t meant to start playing any kind of rugby for four or five months, but Lawrence (Faifua, assistant coach) called me and said ‘please come back’,” Rivers said.

“It was about three weeks after and I was like whatever, I’m ready to go.

“Victoria (physio) was helping me heaps just to get acceptable range of motion ... enough to tackle and pass.”

Sure enough, before she could back squat or even push up, Rivers was back in Bond’s starting line-up, playing up to 30 minutes every Sunday - though it came with concerns.

Gabby Rivers, rugby player.

“When I first came back after games my wrists were painful so I did some follow-up x-rays to make sure nothing was wrong,” she said.

“Anything can happen in rugby, that’s my main concern.”

Now into the big dance and just one win away from a historic three-peat, Rivers is glad she took a chance at such an accelerated return to the sport.

“The only reason I was playing was to make the grand final, it all comes down to this.”

Bond face Easts Rugby at 11am Sunday September 1, the showdown to take place at Ballymore Stadium.