Danny
12-08-2004, 05:55 AM
Is it just bad luck?
By Barry Toohey
August 12, 2004
FOX SPORTS
NEWCASTLE's desperate battle for a playoffs berth is being waged on the back of the worst injury toll in the club's history.
Statistics obtained by The Daily Telegraph show just how deeply the Knights' injury curse has contributed to their current fight for survival.
With four rounds still to play before the playoffs, Newcastle have been forced to use a staggering 32 players this season.
Several weeks ago, the Knights were averaging almost 10 players per round over the course of the season who were unavailable because of injury.
By round 20, that had improved slightly to be hovering around eight.
By comparison, the competition front-running Bulldogs have lost an average of just 1.8 players per round to injury.
Newcastle's injury crisis has progressively worsened since the club won the 2001 premiership.
According to coach Michael Hagan, last season's toll was 40 per cent up on the 2001 figure.
This year, it is even greater.
It has prompted the Knights to commission an independent inquiry into all aspects of their training, medical treatment and recovery practices in a bid to shed light on why the Knights have been so severely affected.
"We had a meeting today to go over the findings of the study," Hagan said.
"There is no simple explanation - more a possible combination of a whole host of things that we'll be looking at more closely.
"It is fair to say that bad luck has also played a significant part as well."
While he has tried to steer clear of offering injuries as the reason why the club finds itself in the position of having to win their remaining four games to guarantee a playoffs position, Hagan claims the statistics don't tell the full story.
"I guess they show the extent of the problems we have faced but just as telling for us is the calibre of the players we haven't had on the field for us," he said.
The most notable is captain Andrew Johns, who has not played since suffering a season-ending knee injury in round three.
But he is not the only big-name casualty.
International secondrower Steve Simpson has also made just three appearances for the club and broke his jaw after finally making a return to the field in round 19 against Brisbane.
Of Newcastle's other stars, Parramatta-bound Timana Tahu has played just eight games and won't play again for the club while fullback Robbie O'Davis has managed just 12 appearances and key forwards Ben Kennedy and Daniel Abraham 12 and eight games respectively.
"That has hurt us more than anything - the fact that we have had so many key players missing for long periods of time," Hagan said.
"It's why it is worse this season than in the past.
"What that also does is put a lot more pressure on your other senior players to carry more of the load."
Only two Knights players - Kurt Gidley and Matthew Kennedy - have played all 20 games this season.
The Daily Telegraph
By Barry Toohey
August 12, 2004
FOX SPORTS
NEWCASTLE's desperate battle for a playoffs berth is being waged on the back of the worst injury toll in the club's history.
Statistics obtained by The Daily Telegraph show just how deeply the Knights' injury curse has contributed to their current fight for survival.
With four rounds still to play before the playoffs, Newcastle have been forced to use a staggering 32 players this season.
Several weeks ago, the Knights were averaging almost 10 players per round over the course of the season who were unavailable because of injury.
By round 20, that had improved slightly to be hovering around eight.
By comparison, the competition front-running Bulldogs have lost an average of just 1.8 players per round to injury.
Newcastle's injury crisis has progressively worsened since the club won the 2001 premiership.
According to coach Michael Hagan, last season's toll was 40 per cent up on the 2001 figure.
This year, it is even greater.
It has prompted the Knights to commission an independent inquiry into all aspects of their training, medical treatment and recovery practices in a bid to shed light on why the Knights have been so severely affected.
"We had a meeting today to go over the findings of the study," Hagan said.
"There is no simple explanation - more a possible combination of a whole host of things that we'll be looking at more closely.
"It is fair to say that bad luck has also played a significant part as well."
While he has tried to steer clear of offering injuries as the reason why the club finds itself in the position of having to win their remaining four games to guarantee a playoffs position, Hagan claims the statistics don't tell the full story.
"I guess they show the extent of the problems we have faced but just as telling for us is the calibre of the players we haven't had on the field for us," he said.
The most notable is captain Andrew Johns, who has not played since suffering a season-ending knee injury in round three.
But he is not the only big-name casualty.
International secondrower Steve Simpson has also made just three appearances for the club and broke his jaw after finally making a return to the field in round 19 against Brisbane.
Of Newcastle's other stars, Parramatta-bound Timana Tahu has played just eight games and won't play again for the club while fullback Robbie O'Davis has managed just 12 appearances and key forwards Ben Kennedy and Daniel Abraham 12 and eight games respectively.
"That has hurt us more than anything - the fact that we have had so many key players missing for long periods of time," Hagan said.
"It's why it is worse this season than in the past.
"What that also does is put a lot more pressure on your other senior players to carry more of the load."
Only two Knights players - Kurt Gidley and Matthew Kennedy - have played all 20 games this season.
The Daily Telegraph