That’s mould, not gold: No Vegas for Toby Rudolf as Sharks star opens up on shoulder surgery and mould infestation

Toby Rudolf won’t travel to Las Vegas with his Sharks teammates, with the veteran prop revealing a setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery.

Recovering from serious off-season shoulder surgery was bad enough, but Sharks star Toby Rudolf has revealed he had to spend 10 weeks of his rehab living out of home due to a mould infestation, with the injury set to keep the prop out of his side’s round 1 clash in Las Vegas.

Rudolf, who turned 29 on Wednesday, was the only Cronulla forward to run for more than 100m in their preliminary final loss to Penrith.

But as the eventual premiers ran away with it late, Rudolf felt something strange in his right shoulder that he didn’t think much of at the time or a few days later when he met up with the club’s medical staff.

In hindsight, he wishes now that he paid it more attention.

Toby Rudolf will miss the start of the 2025 season as he requires shoulder reconstruction surgery (via @Danny_Weidler)

Initially hurt it late in the season then aggravated while surfing in Bali - will undergo latarjet procedure to stabilise the joint. Usually 4 months recovery. pic.twitter.com/Mx1kcxjgmV

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) November 18, 2024

“In terms of the shoulder, I didn’t have a drama all season,” he told the NewsWire.

“And then in the final game against Penrith, I think they scored two or three quick tries. Moses Leota – who runs like a fridge – ran at my right shoulder two or three times.

“On the second or third one, I noticed a bit of pain but I got through the game without a problem.

“Although I never felt it dislocate or sublux, apparently at some stage it did which caused the injury.

“The only pain I can remember was tackling against that forward pack. Whether it happened then or whether it was an old injury is a head-scratcher.”

Rudolf was so convinced that there was nothing seriously wrong that he turned down a scan and went on holidays.

“I had the exit medical four days later. The medical team asked me if I wanted to get a scan but I thought it wasn’t that bad so I told them I didn’t want to get a scan and I thought it’d come good,” he explained.

“They gave me some rehab to do in Bali which I was doing but it wasn’t getting better. I even met the physio over there in Bali.

“The way it tested, what the scan actually showed just didn’t match up at all. It wasn’t a mismanagement thing on anyone’s part. It was just a muck up from me not wanting to get the scan done.

“The shoulder gets better every week, but it’s a slow process. I’ve been injured a fair bit lately which unfortunately I’m getting used to, but it’s getting better each week.

“It’s still far off from being a normal shoulder, but at least I can use it again to make the bed and grab stuff from the top shelf, so things are looking up.”

Toby Rudolf is confident he’ll be back in time for the round 4 game against the Bulldogs. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The shoulder socket was so unstable that doctors had to perform Latarjet surgery, where they grafted some bone from the front of the shoulder blade and attached it to the front of the shoulder socket.

To make matters worse, Rudolf’s recovery was hampered by a shocking bit of bad luck that forced him to move out of home for more than two months.

“It certainly wasn’t ideal because I also had a black mould infestation at my place of residence,” he said.

“I think three days after surgery, I was forced to move out, grab all my clothes and live either at my brother’s or my mum’s house for about 10 weeks.

“I’ve only just moved back to my place now, so I’ve been cleaning and tidying up things.

“It was interesting. It was tough, but it was nice to be around family for the times when I was a bit needy and vulnerable.

“It’s never nice to not have full use of your body, but it’s getting better each week and I’ve got my eye on returning in round 2 at the very earliest, but that would be cutting it very fine.

“If not, it should be all stations ahead for round 4. If that’s the case, missing the first four weeks of the year isn’t too bad.”

Craig Fitzgibbon has decided to keep Rudolf in Sydney while the team plays in Vegas. Picture: Thomas Lisson

While he’s unavailable for the Penrith game on March 2, Rudolf has offered to fly over to Vegas to help support the team but has been shut down by coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

“I may have floated the idea with ‘Fitzy’ a couple of times,” the larrikin said.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, we have a very, very close relationship where he knows exactly what I’m like, so he’s pretty much put the red line through me going to Vegas for those exact reasons.

“I think I’ll be staying here to look after my shoulder.”

Originally published as That’s mould, not gold: No Vegas for Toby Rudolf as Sharks star opens up on shoulder surgery and mould infestation