CORRIGAN ON THE CUSP OF PRIDE COMEBACK
AN injury not commonly associated with rugby league players has hampered livewire Northern Pride fullback Jayden Corrigan’s return to the field, but the club will not risk their electrifying custodian suffering a potentially “career-ending injury” as they fight for survival in the Intrust Super Cup.
The Pride will on Saturday host third-placed Burleigh Bears, and for the Cairns club to reach their first post-season since 2018, the equation is simple: win the game.
Draws against last-placed CQ Capras and the Tweed Seagulls have come back to haunt the Pride, who sit just two points clear of the Sunshine Coast Falcons, who also boast a superior points differential.
The Pride’s round 15 clash with the Falcons was one of two regular season fixtures lost due to the suspension of community sport after a Covid outbreak in southeast Queensland, and it means the club is in a situation where their season could end with the wrong outcomes this weekend.
Corrigan has been a big part of the Pride’s successes in 2021, and is arguably one of the buys of the season.
The former Norths Devils captured Pride fans’ imagination with his speed across the park, safe hands, and an innate ability to break tackles he had no right to break.
He averages 148m with the Steeden tucked under his wing, and while he has scored six tries (and has two try assists to his name), there are countless others the Pride have scored after his work out of the back.
But the 25-year-old has been hampered by injury.
He hasn’t played for the Pride since the round 13 loss to Townsville Blackhawks at Barlow Park, and in one other game lasted just 16 minutes before suffering concussion.
Grant Anderson, who the Pride recruited from Newcastle, has done a stellar job at the back when required, but the loss of an X-factor like Corrigan has affected the way the Pride play. Corrigan has been fighting a quad injury since that game, and while he has been named on multiple occasions has not taken his place in the team on game day.
Coach Ty Williams elaborated on Corrigan this week, and said the club had trod carefully due to the nature of his torn muscle.
“With that quad injury he sustained a few weeks ago and then rehurt it two Fridays ago,” Williams said, “we need to obviously make sure it’s near 100 per cent before we chuck him in there.
“There was a slight tear in the quad muscle, but the way that it tore was it’s completely different to the way the muscle normally tear.
“It’s an injury sustained by AFL guys by kicking the football. It was a strange one, we don’t normally see it in rugby league and that’s something we need to be careful with because it can haematoma up and get fairly large.
“It can be career ending.
“Dr (Anthony) Kresevic has done a whole heap of research, he spoke to the AFL guys about how we need to treat this. It’s just not like another quad or hamstring injury, just go ‘mate you need to push through it’.
“It’s a touchy one and we need to make sure we manage it the right way so we can prolong his career.
“He’s good some days, others he’s really sore, and if he tears it really bad that’s where there will be some drama. Doc Kresevic has done a great job finding the research and he’s been in contact with professionals who deal with it.
“If he gets through the week, he’s in, but if he doesn’t and there’s any inkling of not being ready, he won’t play. I’ll make the call straight away, and Grant, he did a great job (last week) with more than 160m and was solid at the back.”
Kick-off is at 5.30pm.