www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/19003290 As a player he owes us nothing, he's been outstanding from the moment he put on a Wire shirt. He just needs to be sensible now as there is life after rugby league, its not worth the risk of making your long term health possibly worse, i'm sure he's getting the best medical advice possible.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/19003290 As a player he owes us nothing, he's been outstanding from the moment he put on a Wire shirt. He just needs to be sensible now as there is life after rugby league, its not worth the risk of making your long term health possibly worse, i'm sure he's getting the best medical advice possible.

He's been the best hooker in Super League for three or four seasons, but he needs to look after his health.

What's the problem exactly, cartliage wear, ligament damage?

Knees are a ing nightmare. I know as mine are shot to pieces after microfracture surgery and I am younger than him.
OK when walking and even in the gym, but try and play some competitive sport and they just crumble in a heap.

He had an operation to have the cartilage cleaned out in both knees, was only supposed to be 1 knee and then he needed both doing.

He's been a brilliant player for us, the hooker we really needed. I wouldn't blame him if he even needed to retire at the end of this season, I don't want him really struggling for the rest of his life.

Cartliage clearout alone wouldnt cause this (I wouldn't imagine). He's most likely had microfracture surgery (I would guess), where they originally plan to clean any lose cartliage, but then find there isnt any to clean as it's all gone.

A new(ish) remedy is to drill into the bone, which leads to bleeding. The bleeding process heals and leaves behind a layer of "coating" which includes some similar properties to cartliage and acts as a substitute. The process works but is never the same as real cartliage and is only a short term measure depending on how you treat yourself.

I was told "to find another sport, one that doesn't involve any pressure on the knees".

Not nice.

i posted this on a thread not so long ago and got a bit of a blasting for it. its no real surprise he has had more than 1 knee op before and is getting on a little bit. its a shame he is a great player but he should think on if he wants to be able to walk with out a limp later in life.

depends on how many times you have had the surgery and some people dont come back the same after it.

He needs to man up a bit.

I am of course joking. He seems very philosophical about it and notes his age. Fingers crossed we can get 2 more years but regardless of how long he's got left it's been an absolute privilege to watch him play. From what I'm told, his professionalism and attitude would have made a huge difference to our growth as a club. He's a Warrington legend.

Lets hope if he does retire at the end of the season he has a challenege cup winners medal and a grand final ring*

*why do they get a ring by the way and not a medal?

I was told it is so players can sell it for the value in gold if they so wish, not sure how true this is.

America

Perhaps I am having a bad day, but why did you reply 'America' to the question as to why players get a ring instead of a medal for the GF ?

It's traditional in American sports that you get awarded a ring, rather than a medal when you win a competition in team sports, or maybe it's play off related.

Superbowl winners get a ring.

Do they do that in the NRL ?

I think so yes.

I'm sure I remember reading that even though Melbourne got stripped of their premierships for 2007 and 2009 the players still got to keep their rings.

Just shows how meaningless the end of season mickey mouse tournament is compared to the League Championship if even the rings are made so the players can sell them.

Just a daft gimmick giving the players a ring.

To be fair at least its something you can wear.

If you walk around with a medal round your neck you look like a knob so it just ends up in a draw gathering dust. If you have a ring you can wear it as a constant reminder of what you've achieved.

maybe they should give them a nice pair of shoes then... Grand final winning shoes.

Well they could hardly demand them back could they?!

"Sorry mate I've lost it."

Or "my dog ate it."

I think everyone knew there must have been something wrong, the number of missed games. It’s a shame, but it’s a tough sport. I wish him well. I think Briers has a long term problem too.

To be fair, no-one (especially someone in their early 30's) will ever be fully fit again, after they've had a serious injury.

As long as the club doctors/physios reckon his body (and Briers'/Morley's) will stand up to the rigours of contact sport, for the length of their contracts. we shouldn't be worrying.

After all, it's only Connor McLeod that's immortal

Played 80 minutes today! Certainly hasn't lost his edge in defence!