The NRL Injury List: Campbell Graham, Corey Allan and Coen Hess reveal their rehab stories
Corey Allen thought his career was over when his knee shattered during a gym session. However, after multiple physical and mental setbacks, the former Maroons rep has found reason to believe his NRL days aren’t over. WATCH THE EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
When Corey Allan’s knee shattered underneath him during a routine gym session, the former Origin flyer thought his career was over.
Allan was just weeks into a one-year contract at St George Illawarra and faced the real prospect that he would be thrown onto the rugby league scrap heap at the age of 26.
“Straight away my head was gone,” Allan said.
“I thought if the Dragons were going to give me the tap, I was going to give it up. It was heartbreaking, I thought my career was over.”
Allan was wrestling close friend and ex-Bulldog teammates Kyle Flanagan when he went to brace himself with his leg in January.
The result was a wasted season. The mental anguish was matched by his physical discomfort.
“It was tough,” Allan said.
“I was angry. I couldn’t shower myself at the start. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t carry food when I was on crutches.
“The first five weeks was pretty bad. I didn’t want to leave the house. I was just sitting there. My partner was trying to get me out of the house but I was so angry.
“I came up with every excuse so I could stay on my own.
“It’s tough to talk about because I am a pretty calm person. When shit hits the fan I am usually OK but this one was a bit different because I genuinely thought it was it.
“When I could walk again, I could smile again.”
Allan’s mind started ticking over about life after football. He flirted with joining Fire and Rescue and has started a carpentry course.
The latest injury was the latest in a long line of setbacks. He tore his hamstring three times at Canterbury, as well as suffering two groin issues and a patella tear.
His mind was put at ease when Dragons coach Shane Flanagan threw his arm around him and told him there would be a deal for 2025.
“Shane pretty much said that they were going to look after me,” Allan said.
“As soon as I could walk without crutches I switched mindset to ‘Let’s get running, let’s get back’.
“I’ve had a few injuries in the past few years. My body was breaking down. I’m hoping this gives me a chance to heal and come back stronger.”
Allan has already had a remarkable career. Long touted as a future star, he was picked in the PM’s XIII even before he made his NRL debut.
He signed a rich three-year contract to join South Sydney from the Broncos but was released with a year left and signed with Canterbury.
He had one season at the Roosters before joining the Dragons. In between was his only Origin appearance in game three of Queensland’s remarkable 2020 series win.
“(Next year) is make or break,” Allan said. “But I’m not too worried about what comes after next year. I know if I can get my confidence back that I know what I’m capable of.
“I didn’t watch too much footy but now I don’t miss a game. I love it.”
Allan met with the surgeon earlier this month and is tracking nicely as he increases his workload.
He should resume full contract training after Christmas with the hope of playing in the Dragons’ final trial.
CAMPBELL GRAHAM: ‘WAS IT EVER GOING TO GET BETTER?’
Campbell Graham watched State of Origin II from an Aussie pub in London in June, as fellow patrons did double takes to work out if it was really him.
By rights, Graham should not have been in London but 17,000km away in Melbourne, where he should have played a part in NSW’s belting of Queensland.
It was just another surprising step in Graham’s agonising recovery from a series of debilitating injuries.
Graham sat down with Michael Carayannis at South Sydney’s Maroubra headquarters to reflect on a year in which he hasn’t tasted a minute of action because of a rare sternum injury.
INITIAL HOPE
The last time we caught up with Graham he was staring at an image of himself spread across the tallest building in Las Vegas.
The 59-storey Resorts World used Graham front and centre as part of an advertising blitz last December. At that point Graham was hopeful he could feature in the NRL’s historic double header.
Now he has come to grips with the reality that he won’t play until 2025.
“At that point I was coming off shoulder surgery and the initial thought process of the medical staff was that with the shoulder surgery I wouldn’t be doing any contact or anything too physical for a few months,” Graham said.
“They thought the rest would mean my sternum would heal naturally. When I started to do a little bit of contact my sternum hadn’t improved at all.”
Graham’s 2023 season was plagued by the same sternum injury. It ruled him out of an Origin debut and again threatened to derail his 2024 season.
“I had a tough decision to make,” Graham said.
“Battle through another year and try to manage it how I did the year before in terms of needling, padding and keeping me out of training. Going that way in terms of managing the injury wasn’t going to be beneficial for the team or my career.
“In the back of my mind I was wondering if this was going to be a chronic pain that I’d have to deal with throughout my career. It had been nearly a year and it wasn’t any better.
“Was it ever going to get better?”
The original injury happened in round one last year which Graham described as “sore but manageable.”
He was nursed through the next three months wearing a pad and having the injury needled weekly.
“But the next day after playing Parramatta in round 12 it was significantly worse,” Graham said.
“I struggled to get out of bed and putting a shirt on was torture. Breathing, sitting up.
“It was painful.”
Campbell Graham won’t be fit for international selection after undergoing shoulder reconstruction (stabilisation) surgery. He also played through a painful sternum injury for much of the season. Usual 3-5 month recovery time means no real concerns for Round 1 2024 availability pic.twitter.com/HR1khzFMY6
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) September 17, 2023
UNDER THE KNIFE
Graham had put off surgery last year but this time it was the only option.
“It’s an uncommon injury in footy,” Graham said.
“I spoke with Jack Bird and he gave me some advice about his experience and that gave me some confidence.
“The surgery was a bone graft and they took the bone out of my sternum and took the fresh bone from my hip and put it in the sternum. They put some plates over the top of that.
“There was no blueprint in terms of rehab. There was no, ‘You’ll be back by this date’.
“It was always up in the air but I’d made the goal to push for round 18.
“I was disappointed to miss a large portion of the season but I thought I’d be back at the end of the year and we’d be going for a top four spot.”
END OF THE ROAD
That round 18 deadline was soon pushed back to round 22. And by the time round 22 came and went, Graham was no closer to playing.
“Once it got pushed back I saw the writing on the wall,” said Graham, who is also studying an online digital marketing course.
“They made the decision to not play me this season.
“I was disappointed. I just wanted to play, I didn’t care if we were coming last. I understand the decision and I’m just trying to focus on the positives but I was pretty shattered.”
SILVER LINING
As he began his rehabilitation, Graham strained his calf, so the Rabbitohs medical staff told him to have two weeks off.
He was granted permission to travel to Europe, where he met his dad for the Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany, and spent time in England and Greece.
“I watched Origin II at a pub in London,” Graham said. “It was packed.”
SMALL RETURN
In July, Graham passed a football for the first time in months. There have been plenty of other little wins along the way.
“When you’re doing something as simple as passing the ball for so long you take for granted how good it can be to be out there with the boys,” Graham said.
“I’m lifting normal weights again which I haven’t been able to do for a year and a half prior to my sternum injury because I had a bad shoulder.”
Campbell jumped in for some team drills last week for a few minutes as part of his gradual re-entry.
“Last round of 2023 is the last time I made a tackle,” Graham said. “I hope I can do some contact from day one of the pre-season and full training after the first month.
“I never thought I’d say it but I’m excited for pre-season.”
COEN HESS: “I JUST FELT SOMETHING BUT IT DIDN’T HURT”
Five games was the most Coen Hess had missed in a season in his first full seven seasons in the top grade.
It is why he found it so difficult to relate to players who were sidelined for a large chunk of the season. Well that soon became a reality for the North Queensland forward who ruptured his knee during a pre-season match against Canberra in February.
“This is my first ever really long-term injury,” Hess said.
“I was a bit naïve when I first did it and didn’t really understand what was ahead of me in terms of all the challenges and obstacles you face during a long-time injury.
“The mental aspect was not what I was prepared for.
“Trying to get yourself out of bed each day.
“I know what the boys go through now and I might be a bit softer in giving a helping hand if someone goes through this again.
“The weird thing is that when I’ve hurt myself before the injury has really hurt. This time when I did my knee it didn’t hurt. I just felt something but it didn’t hurt.
“I remember walking into the sheds and I went to turn a sharp corner in the dressing sheds and I felt my knee slip.
“That was the main sign.”
Hess joined his Cowboys teammates at a pre-season camp in Kiama the following day.
He felt fine and was walking around on the injury remaining hopeful that he may escape the season-ending fate. He wasn’t so lucky.
“You put all the hard work into the pre-season and it’s all for nothing,” Hess said.
Coen Hess will go for scans on a right knee injury, reportedly fears for significant damage. Limited video shows contact from tackler on lower leg, appears to cause inward collapse.
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) February 25, 2024
MCL and/or ACL injury of most concern considering mechanism, fingers crossed for him 🤞 pic.twitter.com/bt0FIt6XMG
“The only good thing is that if you do it in the middle of the year you might push to come back sooner than you might be ready. I knew my fate for the season.
“I just had the sh*ts with my crutches. I was trying to cook dinner and hold my plate in my mouth. Everything was so difficult.”
Adding to the complications was that he was off-contract.
But unlike most, that did not really worry Hess.
“I’m a pretty chilled out guy,” Hess said.
“I wasn’t contracted but I didn’t let that phase me. I’m still shocked the Cowboys gave me a three-year deal. The ball is in my court now they have put the faith in me.
“At the Cowboys you become a life member when you’ve played 200 games. [Hess has played 165]. That is the goal now.”
Hess has used his time to undertake a strength and conditioning course and hopes to stay involved with the club when his career ends. He will be in full-training after Christmas.
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