EYE FLYERS

Prop Mulhern hadn’t met anyone with the same rare cornea condition as him... until Wolves signed fellow front-rower Mikaele

WARRINGTON prop Robbie Mulhern did not know anyone else with his rare eye condition – yet he is now packing down with a fellow sufferer.

Only around one in 2,000 people develop keratoconus, the thinning of the cornea which leads to blurred vision.

One-time England prop Mulhern discovered he had it two years ago and was worried it could end his career.

But specialists have eased those fears and so has Wolves’ recent buy Thomas Mikaele (right).

The ex-wests Tigers prop was diagnosed in 2019 and Mulhern said: “My brother googled Thomas when he joined last month and said he’s got something wrong with his eyes as well.

“He was joking about how we’d make a right pair in the front-row not being able to catch the ball.

“I looked at his Wikipedia page and saw he’d got the same thing as me. It is a real coincidence. When I met him I said he was the only other person I knew who’d got it. And he said the same.”

Mulhern, 27, was reading in his garden during the first lockdown when he rubbed an eye and noticed words on the page went blurry.

He said: “I’d always had perfect vision so thought it was strange. Obviously, everything was closed so I couldn’t go see the optician.

“When they opened again, I got diagnosed with keratoconus.

“I’d never heard of it. I was surprised. I just thought I’d need some glasses. But the optician initially said I’d have to stop playing and have all these different surgeries.

“That stunned me. She told me my eyes would be really vulnerable and if I got a whack after the op it could permanently blind me.

“But as soon as I saw the specialist he put me at ease. He said I wouldn’t go blind, it’s manageable and I wouldn’t need to stop playing.”

Mulhern has undergone surgeries to stop the condition getting worse and it does not affect him when he is playing. Off the field, he wears “weird” hard lenses filled with liquid that are placed in his eyes with a special plunger device (left).

Warrington host Salford on Sunday having finally ended a five-game losing run with a 4-0 victory over Hull.

Mulhern, who featured with Mikaele, admitted: “We just needed that win. We’d take any type of win but hopefully we can use it as a springboard. The mood has definitely lifted a bit.”

■ LEEDS have been rocked by big bans for two star players.

Kiwi forward Zane Tetevano was banned for FIVE games by an independent disciplinary tribunal following his red card for a horror high tackle on Konrad Hurrell towards the end of the 42-12 loss at St Helens.

Bad-boy Tetevano, 31, pleaded guilty but it is his fifth ban in just 15 months for Rhinos.

Team-mate Harry Newman, who hopes to make England’s World Cup squad, was hit with a three-game ban for aggressive language or body language towards referee Tom Grant in the same game.