Drew Mitchell sends injured Reds winger Dom Shipperley message of support after horror ankle injury

A MESSAGE from Drew Mitchell has reinforced Dom Shipperley’s belief he can win the slog ahead to return to top rugby after a horror ankle fracture.

Super Rugby Rd 17 - Rebels v Reds

A SUPPORTIVE message from former Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell has reinforced Dom Shipperley’s belief he can win the seven-month slog ahead to return to top rugby after a horror ankle fracture.

The first surprise of Shipperley’s grave fracture dislocation of the left ankle was that the Reds winger was able to join his teammates on their Melbourne-Brisbane flight home on Saturday.

He needed a wheelchair and crutches just to board the Qantas jet but the team’s upbeat mood following the 36-20 thrashing of the Melbourne Rebels last Friday night was a tonic in itself.

Skipper James Horwill walked over to the prone Shipperley when concerned medics put him on a stretcher after the awkward twist and snap just five minutes into the game played in a Melbourne gale.

“I just told him to keep his chin up and said ‘mate, we’ll get the job done for you’,” Horwill said.

“He’s a well-thought of teammate. It’s not the way he’d want to finish his time at the Reds but he’s one of us and we’ll do everything to support him in a tough time.”

Reds captain James Horwill checks on the injured Dom Shipperley at AAMI Park.

Horwill’s sentiments show again that a squad losing seven players to other clubs next season is not necessarily in upheaval but merely dealing with the realities of professional sport and a player list makeover.

Shipperley’s four-season, 12-try run at the Reds is over. It might be a year before he plays at his confident best again when he’ll be in the ranks of the Rebels where he has signed for 2015-16.

Mitchell is proof you can fight back from such a nasty injury. He was stretchered off Suncorp Stadium in 2011 with the same injury yet remarkably was playing for the Wallabies five months later at a World Cup.

Mid-match, Mitchell tweeted: “Tough to see Dom Shipperly get injured like that. All the best with your recovery mate. Get around him everyone and show him a bit of love.”

Losing Shipperley and centre Anthony Faingaa (calf strain) means the Reds are at crisis point in the backs because they join Quade Cooper (shoulder), Chris Feauai-Sautia (shoulder) and Will Genia (ankle) on the sidelines.

Hopes that fullback Aidan Toua (pectoral muscle) will be fit for his first game since April against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday night are overly optimistic. Toua said yesterday it was still not at full strength in uncontrolled situations.

With just eight fit backs in his squad, Graham is certain to promote untried GPS centre Sam Johnson, 21, to the bench in Perth after a promising code switch from last year’s Gold Coast Titans Under-20s program.

The clinical first half demolition of the Rebels was top class with stand-out skipper Horwill proving a point by comprehensively outplaying young Wallaby lock rivals Luke Jones and Cadeyrn Neville.

Tellingly, the wind that made kicking for territory a poor option meant the Reds treasured the ball and showed what they could do with the mistake-free pressure rugby so absent for large chunks of this season.

Horwill is hungry for more to upset the Western Force and NSW Waratahs (July 12) to finish the season strongly.

“We were focused on three wins to finish the season. We’ve got the first,” he said.

Originally published as Drew Mitchell sends injured Reds winger Dom Shipperley message of support after horror ankle injury