Steve Simpson injury

[budz]

I think on your website it started off that Simpson would be out until around round 11, and then it changed to round 20. Now its changed back to round 11. Is that a mistake or is he actually recovering from it faster than expected?

[injuryupdate]

I think on your website it started off that Simpson would be out until around round 11, and then it changed to round 20. Now its changed back to round 11. Is that a mistake or is he actually recovering from it faster than expected?

Good question - the reality is probably somewhere in between the two and Newcastle and Simpson probably don't know at this stage. I'll give you more info so you (and others) can understand how this website and the 'official' injury lists (e.g. NRL one in Big League, Daily Telegraph) actually work. When a first grade player is injured, there is an expectation that the club will release a diagnosis and a recovery time. The recovery times are probably only updated by the journos as players are getting close to their anticipated return. We actually have a bit of inside info on Steve Simpson, which is not confidential, so can be posted here. He has a fifth metatarsal stress fracture, which is a bad type of stress fracture, that required surgery. This stress fracture is notoriously difficult to give an accurate prognosis on recovery time (if you are a Newcastle Knights supporter you may remember Darren Albert and Robbie O'Davis having the same injury). I think the initial statement given to the media was Simpson - foot stress fracture - 6-8 weeks, and this has probably not been updated by the Big League since, and unfortunately his prognosis is probably worse than that, as he will probably only come out of plaster/brace in round 9-10. We sometimes check our injuries off against the other lists, hence the change in prognosis. The critical time in terms of determining whether he will be back soon after comes when the plaster or brace, in terms of how it feels to put weight through. If he feels great, they might accelerate things but if not, he could conceivably even be out for the season.

We would love it if any supporters who follow their club closely can get further info and post it on this message board - e.g. my friend watched Newcastle train last week and Steve Simpson is already back jogging.

This website is going well in terms of traffic at the moment but still doesn't make any profit. Our resources definitely don't include phoning all clubs to check injury status, yet we still think we provide a better injury list than the Big League and newspapers because (1) we update more often than weekly (2) we have more specific diagnoses where possible and links to the diagnosis on other pages (3) we try to include reserve grade players if we have the info. In the future, if we can get some advertising revenue, we would like to put a comment on for most injuries so we can give info similar to the above on the Simpson injury, for example.

If you want to ask why Newcastle has had so many fifth metatarsal stress fractures when it is such a rare injury, you'll have to make another post!

[budz]

Thanks for clearing that up.

[budz]

I read in the Sun Herald that Steve Simpson will be out atleast until round 19. He is hoping to be back in round 19. Because he only got some sought of brace off his foot.

[injuryupdate]

I read in the Sun Herald that Steve Simpson will be out atleast until round 19. He is hoping to be back in round 19. Because he only got some sought of brace off his foot.

Will depend on whether he feels pain walking on it when he starts putting the weight down. I hope you took him out of your VNRL team.

[budz]

Well actually i kept him in my team. As long as he is fit and his workrate is up by around round 23 then ill be happy. Because if he can get over a combination of 40 tackles and hitups (which is a forward try) by round 23 (which is the VNRL finals), then ill be happy. I havent kept him this whole season for him not to come back for the VNRL finals. Im coming 4th so ill easily make the finals and get a decent position.
Im waiting for the following players to come back frmo injury: Blacklock, Betham, Hegarty, Simpson and Thurston.
And i had to drop Bailey when he went out for the season.

[Danny]

He's back this week (round 19), you beauty!

Knights welcome back Simpson
July 13, 2004
Foxs Sports

KANGAROO forward Steve Simpson will make a long-awaited return for Newcastle in its NRL clash with Brisbane at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday.

Simpson will start on the bench after a 14-week stint on the sidelines with a foot injury, while the Knights also have NSW forwards Ben Kennedy and Danny Buderus and injured fullback Robbie O'Davis back on deck.

Knights skipper Buderus said he expected good things in the closing stages of the premiership.

"I would expect this football team to come up with some big results over the next eight weeks," he said.

"The week before the Sharks game we rattled up a big score over Manly, with a side that resembled the one we will have on the park this Sunday."

[budz]

Im so excited too to finally have him back in my VNRL team!! Ive been holding onto him since about round 3 or something. In his only match for me he got me a forward try. Im hoping his workrate will increase in the next couple of weeks and he will be starting soon.

[Danny]

You'd have to be pulling your hair out Budz. Simpson is out for up 8 wks out with a serious broken jaw.

[budz]

Oh i am pulling my bloody hair out! That is absolutely ridiculous! I keep him in my team after he is out for most of the season. Comes back and starts and gets 44 combined stats, but doesnt get given a forward try. And i think i did the right thing keeping him, and i hear he is out for the rest of the VNRL season.
And to add insult to my VNRL season i hear that Gasnier out will probably miss another 4 weeks. I cant stand this stuff.

[injuryupdate]

Surely you must be able to trade players for other decent ones when they get injured, which is what happens at NRL level? At least you must have some idea how Nathan Brown and Michael Hagan are feeling this year.

[budz]

Well because there are 14 teams in our comp, all of the good players are gone, and there are hardly any decent players left. And yes, i do know how those coaches with injured players must be feeling. All i know is that next season im not going to get players that are so injury prone. Maybe some teams like the Dragons should start thinking about that kinda thing too. When you have so many injury prone players in one team, there are bound to be atleast 2 or 3 of them out each week.