Danny
03-05-2005, 05:10 AM
Heenan out for the year
By Wayne Smith
May 2, 2005
FOXSPORTS
THE season is over for Daniel Heenan after the rampaging Queensland Reds flanker yesterday underwent surgery to insert a screw into his injured ankle.
Heenan was forced off against the Cats on Friday night with a high ankle sprain, but an MRI scan followed by arthroscopy yesterday revealed the injury was identical to the syndesmosis suffered by Waratahs' Test fullback Mat Rogers last season and Heenan faces up to five months on the sidelines.
The highly regarded lineout ace yesterday was ruing an interview he gave to The Australian on Friday in which he had rejoiced in the fact that he finally was stringing some matches together after a horror injury run stretching back to before the World Cup.
"I knew as soon as I said that I'd put the mocker on myself," Heenan said.
Heenan was fast-tracked into the Wallabies as the lineout-jumping blindside flanker coach Eddie Jones has been seeking for some time when he made his Test debut against Wales in 2003. But then knee and back injuries cost him a near-certain place in the World Cup squad and he then lost most of the 2004 season after a shoulder reconstruction.
Heenan's injury opens the door for Tom McVerry to start at No.6 against the Waratahs on Friday, which will add to the Reds' speed to the breakdown but weaken the lineout, allowing NSW to more heavily target primary jumpers Nathan Sharpe and Hugh McMeniman.
The Reds will give their two other casualties from the Cats win, five-eighth Elton Flatley and outside centre Ben Tune, until the last possible moment to demonstrate their fitness.
Flatley was taken off as a precaution after copping another heavy head knock and although team officials are insisting there is no cumulative damage, the regularity of such injuries is surely causing concern.
Queensland can ill-afford to lose Flatley for the interstate match and not just for the direction he provides. He clearly has a settling effect on such players as Chris Latham and Wendell Sailor who are able to concentrate on their own games rather than trying to carry the load for their team-mates.
The same applies to Tune, who has been diagnosed with a grade one strain of his A/C joint, an injury that normally requires a two-week recovery.
By Wayne Smith
May 2, 2005
FOXSPORTS
THE season is over for Daniel Heenan after the rampaging Queensland Reds flanker yesterday underwent surgery to insert a screw into his injured ankle.
Heenan was forced off against the Cats on Friday night with a high ankle sprain, but an MRI scan followed by arthroscopy yesterday revealed the injury was identical to the syndesmosis suffered by Waratahs' Test fullback Mat Rogers last season and Heenan faces up to five months on the sidelines.
The highly regarded lineout ace yesterday was ruing an interview he gave to The Australian on Friday in which he had rejoiced in the fact that he finally was stringing some matches together after a horror injury run stretching back to before the World Cup.
"I knew as soon as I said that I'd put the mocker on myself," Heenan said.
Heenan was fast-tracked into the Wallabies as the lineout-jumping blindside flanker coach Eddie Jones has been seeking for some time when he made his Test debut against Wales in 2003. But then knee and back injuries cost him a near-certain place in the World Cup squad and he then lost most of the 2004 season after a shoulder reconstruction.
Heenan's injury opens the door for Tom McVerry to start at No.6 against the Waratahs on Friday, which will add to the Reds' speed to the breakdown but weaken the lineout, allowing NSW to more heavily target primary jumpers Nathan Sharpe and Hugh McMeniman.
The Reds will give their two other casualties from the Cats win, five-eighth Elton Flatley and outside centre Ben Tune, until the last possible moment to demonstrate their fitness.
Flatley was taken off as a precaution after copping another heavy head knock and although team officials are insisting there is no cumulative damage, the regularity of such injuries is surely causing concern.
Queensland can ill-afford to lose Flatley for the interstate match and not just for the direction he provides. He clearly has a settling effect on such players as Chris Latham and Wendell Sailor who are able to concentrate on their own games rather than trying to carry the load for their team-mates.
The same applies to Tune, who has been diagnosed with a grade one strain of his A/C joint, an injury that normally requires a two-week recovery.