More to give, I am just annoyed I’ve not been able to show it’
ROBINS’ STAR ETHAN RYAN ON UNDERGOING SURGERY ON HIS WRIST INJURY AND HIS EXPECTED RECOVERY SCHEDULE FOR 2022
Ethan Ryan insists he is undergoing his latest wrist operation at the earliest opportunity after some Hull KR supporters were left frustrated by the timing. Only hours after the first group of players reported to Craven Park for the start of pre-season, the club announced that Ryan required surgery on the wrist injury he sustained against Wigan Warriors in August.
The winger is booked in for an operation next Monday and will be in a cast for eight weeks, leaving him facing a race against time to be fit for the start of the new season in February.
Ryan had been hoping to join the first wave of players on day one of pre-season only to receive the bad news after undergoing a scan last week.
The 25-year-old has admitted that he too was keen to avoid a repeat of the fractured scaphoid on his other wrist, which was left to heal before he eventually went under the knife in May.
“It’s a good question because I asked the same question when I first did it,” he told the Mail when asked why the surgery was not done sooner.
“When you first do it (the injury) they don’t want to go straight in with an operation. There’s a lot of risk attached to it and if they don’t have to they won’t.
“Ninety per cent of the time depending on your age and what you do for a living - the bone that I broke should heal.
“It just so happens that my blood flow mustn’t be the best to it and they aren’t connecting on their own.
“If it becomes a non-union, that’s when you need to put a graft in another bit of healthy bone.
“I was a bit sceptical because my other side didn’t heal but was told that you shouldn’t think the same thing is going to happen, that it’s a new injury and it probably won’t happen again.
“Unfortunately for me it has happened. But I’ve had the surgery
done as soon as I could have done and touch wood if it all goes to plan, I won’t be missing any games.”
Having been down this road to recovery before, Ryan knows exactly what to expect over the coming months.
He will be back running a week after his operation and can do most things in training aside from contact and skill, meaning he will be able to maintain his general fitness.
Ryan is hopeful of being ready for round one after ticking all the boxes following the surgery on his other wrist.
“It’s exactly the same,” he said on the timeframe.
“I had my cast off four weeks before the Wigan game and it was a case of making sure you’ve still got your full range of motion, you can catch a ball without pain and get back into contact without thinking that the screw is going to misplace. “There’s a protocol you do over the three-week period and right at the end you start getting back into the contact.
“By the end of week three and the start of week four, you’re usually there or thereabouts if it’s healed.”
While he is upbeat about his recovery, there is no getting away from the fact that it is another blow for the luckless speedster.
Ryan was restricted to five appearances in 2021 but showcased his talent when he was out on the field, memorably saving the day against Huddersfield Giants before scoring a fine try in the home win over Wigan.
The Ireland international is determined to put his injury frustrations behind him next year, which ends with a World Cup on home soil.
“I’m just a bit gutted really because I came from playing at Bradford where I wasn’t really injured at all,” he said.
“The worst one I had was a broken jaw when I was out for eight weeks.
“I want to get it done now to get it over and done with just so I can be ready. I don’t want the same injury affecting my time at KR like it has over the past couple of years.
“I feel like I would have had so much more to give on the field and it’s annoying that I haven’t been able to fully show that.
“I felt like my performances were building and I was looking forward to keeping the role for the rest of the year. Then I came back against Wigan and felt like I put in a good performance.
“I know when I play I can put in good performances so it’s frustrating being limited to do that. That’s the most annoying thing about it.
“Hopefully I can get it sorted and put some performances together that will allow me to stay in the team for the full year.”