Matulino’s recovery hampered by infection
Warriors front rower Ben Matulino’s playing return may be delayed as he fights to overcome an infection after knee surgery in January.
Matulino injured his left knee during pre-season training and had an operation which was expected to rule him out for the first six rounds. However, this latest setback could prolong his absence.
The infection has hindered his rehabilitation in the past month and he has been forced to use an antibiotics drip which he had at the club’s season launch breakfast in Auckland yesterday.
“With every surgery, any time you open a wound, there’s a chance of infection,” said Matulino. “It happened to me, so for the past month, I’ve been on antibiotics.
“Before I got the surgery, they were saying round six, so I don’t know if it’s pushed it back a bit. It all depends on how my knee goes at the time.”
The two-time Warriors Player of the Year (2015 and 2012) has endured a frustrating time, with the double blow of injury and infection severely limiting his ability to train properly.
The 28-year-old has been in the club gym each day completing exercises and physio to strengthen his knee before keeping scheduled appointments with a nurse to have his antibiotics replaced.
“I can’t do any upper body work, so the last month, I’ve just done my rehab on my knee,” he said. “So I’ll come into the club and work with the physios and do all my rehab in the morning. I’ve got to get my antibiotics changed every afternoon, so I have to go home before midday and the nurse comes and changes the bottle.”
With Matulino out of action, there’s a front row spot up for grabs, with Charlie Gubb, Sam Lisone, Albert Vete and James Gavet just some of the contenders to fill in alongside veteran Jacob Lillyman.
“Jake had a disrupted pre-season through injury but it’s good to see Sammy, Albert and Charlie, they’ve had massive pre-seasons,” Matulino said.
“We’ve been down a bit on props through the pre-season through injuries and they’ve had to do the hard yards.”
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney remains hopeful Matulino’s return won’t be delayed and hopes to have him back by round seven.
“Possibly [there could be a delay] but I think it will only be a week, if that, on top of where he was,” said Kearney.
“I know it’s been frustrating for Ben because it was the best space I’d seen him in [before the knee injury] in terms of physically. He was pretty disappointed, as I was for him.
“But he’ll give us a real surge when he does come back. There’s an opportunity for some guys that are around him to really stake a claim.”