Eric Grothe Junior

[eelfan]

Can someone tell me when Eric Grothe Junior is going to be back playing for the Eels? All other websites say he should be back this week but he was again on the Eels injury list. What is the extent of his injury? :(

[injuryupdate]

Difficult to say, as Brian Smith is notorious for being one of the most deceptive coaches with respect to releasing injury details. The week that Eric was injured he was down as playing, so it is remotely possible that he might lob in the team this week.

His injury is meant to be a hamstring strain, and these have a hard-to-predict recovery (see the main part of the website for more info on hamstrings). Also Eric has a history of taking a while to recover from injury, so he probably wouldn't want to play if not 100% and the club may not want to risk him.

Having said this, it is a pity for Parra fans as Grothe has been just about the one bright light in the Eels' season to date.

[eelfan]

Thanks very much for that info.
All us Eel fans will hold our breath waiting.

Cheers for the quick response :)

[eelfan]

News from a Parra official is that Eric has detached a small muscle near his pelvis. they keep thinking he'll be right, then it gets bad again. The Eels' Doc Johnson is sending him for more scans this week. If they can't treat it then Eric wil be gone for the season, if they can then who know's??
Word is that Eric is dying to get back playing though despite all the rumours around the Eels websites that he has had a falling out with Brian Smith

[injuryupdate]

The 'rumour' you are talking about is the sort of thing that crops up in rugby league on a regular basis. However, I think that Parramatta, in being one of the clubs that doesn't release detailed injury information to the media or general public, is contributing to the likelihood of this sort of thing happening.

For example, in the Eric Grothe situation, he didn't turn out to play one week because of the hamstring injury and very little information was given to the media by Parramatta. Therefore everyone presumed this was a very minor hamstring strain and Eric would be back the next week. When it has become a much more severe prognosis, rumours start to circulate. It would probably be fairer on the player (and in the long run the club) for the club to immediately announce that for a hamstring injury that the player is going to miss a few weeks after the injury occurs, so that the general public doesn't need to create rumours when a player seems to disappear. However, in Parramatta's case, Brian Smith appears to love the idea of fooling opposition coaches with last minute changes to his line-up, and for that reason Parra tend to keep things quiet.