EFNL 2023: Rowville ruckman Nik Schoenmakers to make Premier Division grand final comeback
Little over two months after a “brutal” injury cast serious doubt over his campaign, Rowville ruckman Nik Schoenmakers will return for today’s Eastern Premier Division grand final.
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ROWVILLE has received a major boost for the grand final with the return of a star ruckman.
Nik Schoenmakers will play in Saturday’s Eastern league Premier Division decider against Vermont, little over two months after suffering a “brutal” leg injury in Round 11 which cast doubt over his campaign.
Rowville senior coach Ben Wise said the key big man had been training for the past month and had left “no stone unturned” in his rehabilitation.
Wise said he trained successfully on Thursday night in a last-ditch effort to prove his fitness.
“It was a pretty horrific injury that he had, he dislocated the top of his fibula in his knee and once he got the swelling down, he was able to move pretty well,” Wise said.
“When he had a second scan, he found that he had a syndesmosis (injury). He was in a boot and a brace for five or six weeks but he’s just left no stone unturned with his rehab.
“We just had a timeline and a plan to get him right for the grand final if we were able to make it and not risk him any other way.”
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Touted as “probably the best (ruckman in the competition)” by Wise, the coach backed Schoenmakers to defy the odds with an early return.
“If anyone’s going to come back early from that, it’ll be him,” Wise told Leader in July.
Wise wasn’t wrong.
“He’s an animal with his preparation – there’s not many other people with the injuries that he’s suffered in Round 11, and there wouldn’t be many people at local level that could get back from that in the time that he has,” Wise said.
“We’ve got the utmost respect for what he does and how he prepares.”
EFNL Premier Division grand final: Vermont v. Rowville at Bayswater Oval, Saturday, September 16 at 2.30pm.
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