NRL 2023: How rugby league players deal with major, long-term injuries

Beau Fermor had a long list of goals heading into this year, ending his season with his second ACL injury was not one of them. Michael Carayannis reveals how players deal with major injuries.

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They are the rugby league’s forgotten men. Banged up but forced to watch from the sidelines as they deal with season long injuries. About $8 million worth of talent have had their season prematurely ended because of injury.

From the competition’s biggest name in Tom Trbojevic to the likes of Jayden Brailey, Tom Gilbert, Dale Finucane, Beau Fermor, Adam Doueihi, Sitili Tupouniua and Josh Hodgson to rising stars including Teig Wilton, Kade Dykes, Cody Ramsey and Taylan May.

Some didn’t even get to even play a second of NRL this year.

Michael Carayannis explores the heartache and mental anguish players go through as they deal with major setbacks.

WITHIN 45 MINUTES HIS SEASON WAS OVER

The hardest part for Beau Fermor has been game days. Feeling helpless, as he watched his struggling Titans side.

This year wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Gold Coast back-rower. After a breakthrough year, the 24-year-old’s game was set to go to another level in 2023.

“I wasn’t too bad during the week,” Fermor said. “But I’d get depressed when it came to the weekend and at captain’s run.

“The fans were cheering and I’m just sitting there. I was more angry than anything and it was the ‘why me, why did this happen to me’ thoughts. I felt helpless. I couldn’t help the team. I’m sitting here feeling like I could but I couldn’t help them.”

Beau Fermor has missed all of the 2023 season as he continues to recover from an ACL injury. Credit: Supplied.

Fermor had a long list of goals heading into this year. Ending his season with his second ACL injury four days out from round one was not one of them.

“As I pushed off my right leg I felt a pop and I knew straight away,” Fermor said. “It’s not a pain or feeling you forget and I knew before I hit the ground. As soon as our physio ran out I told him. I was laying on the ground in a bit of shock. The realisation that it was done. I knew deep down what it was but I was hoping maybe it was my PCL and I’d just miss six weeks.”

Within 45 minutes scans showed his season was over.

“I called my parents and my wife as soon as I got off the field,” Fermor said. “It was emotional. There were a few tears shed. My dad didn’t believe me and was like ‘bullshit, you’re lying’. I was like ‘why would I lie about this, it would be a sick joke’. My mum started crying.

“It wasn’t until the boys flew down to Sydney and the group chats were about dinner in the team room and then the boys were running out when I was sitting on the couch that it started to sink in.

“I was angry and emotional.”

Fermor tore his ACL in his left knee while playing lower grades for Newcastle in 2019. Knowing what it took to get back on the field also left him rattled.

Fermor’s goal now is to be back in training ahead of Des Hasler’s arrival at the club. Credit: Supplied.

“My mindset for the first one was always about coming back and doing whatever it takes,” Fermor said. “This one I almost had a more negative mindset. I had a lot of goals I wanted to achieve this year but I knew I wouldn’t be able to.”

Fermor was part of Queensland’s extended squad for Origin II last year. He was aiming for a Maroons debut this year.

“One that hit me harder than I thought was when the Origin I team got announced,” Fermor said. “It was one of my massive goals. I hadn’t played footy all year but when the team got announced and I wasn’t there it rocked me more than I thought it would.”

Fermor has met incoming Titans coach Des Hasler just once since he was announced as new coach. However, Fermor is confident he will be in full training when Hasler takes charge of his first session in November.

BRAILEY: ‘I FELT ASHAMED BECAUSE I FELT LET THE CLUB DOWN AGAIN’

With tears streaming down his face all Jayden Brailey could think to himself was “how the eff am I going to get through this”?

Only now is Brailey feeling comfortable enough to speak openly about the heartache of having his third season in four years cruelly ended by injury. The low this time around was nothing like he had experienced before.

Brailey knows he has had a charmed life. He comes from a loving family and is fulfilling his childhood dream.

But on April 9 this year, his 27th birthday, Brailey would limp from the field at Hunter Stadium a broken man following Newcastle’s game against the Warriors.

Newcastle Knights star suffered an ACL injury in Round 6 this season. Picture: NRL Photos

THE MOMENT

Brailey suffered his first torn ACL on his right knee in 2020. That day he played out the game against the Tigers despite a serious knee injury in round two. Last year he snapped his Achilles in the pre-season on his left side which led to him missing all but the final eight game.

“This time they thought I’d just had meniscus damage,” Brailey said of the injury on his right knee. “I was pretty sore the next morning but I was hopeful.

“The next day after my scan the doctor rang me and asked me to come to training to talk about the results. Right there and then I knew it was serious because if it was minor they would’ve just told me on the phone.”

His dad Glenn and the rest of the Brailey family were in town to celebrate Brailey’s birthday. Glenn had to drive Jayden the 10 minutes from his home to the Knights’ training base.

“I was having flashbacks to my first knee injury,” Brailey said. “In the car I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest. I was emotional. I was nervous.

“Then when the news came through I was distraught. I never thought ‘what if’ with the last two but this was different. I thought something was wrong with me because it can’t be a coincidence to happen this many times.”

RUNNING FROM REALITY

Brailey struggled to deal with this setback. He returned to his parents Sutherland Shire home shortly after surgery and stayed for five weeks. It was the longest time in his memory that he never attended a match.

An avid watcher of every game he could only bring himself to watch Newcastle’s games but even still he had become withdrawn from his teammates.

“I felt ashamed because I felt I let the club down again,” Brailey said. “I didn’t want to see my teammates. I stayed off social media and I was really running from reality.

“I couldn’t get out of bed but when I did I sat on the lounge all day just watching TV. I was on autopilot and in a lot of pain.

“I thought ‘why me’. I always thought if I attacked every rehabilitation to the best of my ability then this will never happen again. That’s why this one broke my heart.

“Everyone goes through ups and downs but this was a very big down period for me. I’ve always taken my mental health for granted, up until now. I’ve lived a good life, I am blessed with the life I lead. I am so grateful but football is a massive part of my life.

“I struggled to find my place and I was lost.”

Brailey has spent a lot of time on the sidelines in recent years, suffering two season ending ACL injuries, and a missing most of 2022 with an Achilles injury. Picture: Getty Images.

BREAKING POINT

The funk Brailey was in was only getting worse. It got to the point where his partner Lily intervened.

“For four or six weeks I was having dinner and then I’d break down,” Brailey said. “There were a lot of tears and it was because I was bottling things up and not communicating. I was pushing away those feelings. I’d have a bad day and come crushing down. Lily told me it had to stop and I had to find a better way.

“For the first time I was scared, anxious. I was wondering if I set myself up for the best life post-footy.

“When you’re sitting at home and you’re knee is swelling up on crutches the injury is always at the forefront of your mind.”

Brailey admits he has struggled with his recovery, breaking down in tears for weeks.

BACK ON TRACK

Along with his partner, it was a text message from Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien which helped him get out of his funk.

“Adam was checking in on me but after the golden point loss to Newcastle he told me he needed me back for the team,” Brailey said. “That clicked me into gear. I had to pick myself up and provide some value to the team.”

The first away game he attended was Newcastle’s record breaking win against Canterbury this month.

Football wasn’t his only purpose. Brailey undertook a leadership course and spoke with experts about his feelings. He has completed worksheets which separates every aspect of his life.

“I had to find myself again,” Brailey said. “I’ve always associated myself with being the footballer. My sense of value and happiness was built off 80 minutes each week. I had to cut that out.

“When it was taken away from me I had to find other ways to be valued. My fiancee gives me affirmations. I asked my closest mate the other day ‘why are we mates?’. He gave me a list of reasons why I am a good mate’.”

It hasn’t been all bad for Brailey in 2023, with the star proposing to his partner Liliana. Picture: Instagram.

POSITIVES

It hasn’t been all bad for Brailey. Just days before the injury he had bought an engagement ring to propose to his girlfriend of six years Lily. A trip to Noosa along with ex-Knights Andrew McCullough and current teammate Hymel Hunt and their respective partners had been planned.

“I was practising getting down on a knee in the lounge room whenever she wasn’t home,” Brailey said. “I’d be lying down like a stretch and prop myself up with my hands.”

Brailey is 14 weeks post-surgery and only ran for the first time in recent days. He is taking a slower path back but is confident of being unrestricted around Christmas and totally fit for pre-season matches.

“I’ve never taken it for granted,” Brailey said. “I just miss it.”