AS he pushes hard to be ready to play against the Sydney Roosters and former mentor Michael Gordon on Sunday, Parramatta’s Bevan French revealed he feared his season was over after a training mishap.
French suffered a knee injury in the lead-up to the round-six clash against the Warriors clash in New Zealand, and has now been named in the No. 20 jersey for Sunday’s trek to Allianz Stadium.
While he ruptured his posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, French and the Eels physios were initially convinced his first season in the club’s No. 1 jersey was finished.
“I got caught in an ugly tackle at training, I got pulled back from behind and my foot got stuck in the ground and the PCL ruptured,’’ French told The Daily Telegraph.
“It looked worse than it was and we thought it was my ACL.
“It was my first knee injury and I didn’t know what to expect. Speaking with the physios before I got the scans, they said it looked pretty ugly and it may have been the ACL because of the way I went over and was twisted around.
“We prepared ourselves for the worst, but thankfully it was only the PCL.’’
French was dynamite in the opening five rounds for the Eels, scoring three tries and proving a handful every time he carted the ball back.
While no certainty to play against the Roosters, French declared he would be more than fit if given the green light. His electric stepping, however, would take a little extra time to return.
“I’ve been running the last couple of weeks, but for me it’s about training the other muscles in my leg to control the stability (in the knee),’’ French said.
“With the stepping, I’ve been a couple of steps behind — in my mind I’m there, but my leg isn’t. It will take a bit of getting used to and a few weeks where it needs to be.’’
It would be a bonus for the 21-year-old from Tingha given the NRL is celebrating Indigenous Round.
Arthur is suddenly spoiled for choice given Clint Gutherson has impressed at fullback, but more than likely to return to five-eighth if French is fit.
French praised Gordon for helping him last year and preparing for the fulltime role of fullback.
Gordon was equally impressed with French and said he was bound to be one of the club’s pin-ups.
“He’s one of those freakish players, and the only thing he may have taken from me was fitness and working on that,’’ Gordon said yesterday.
“He has all the skills and a really good head on his shoulders.
“I’ll be happy if he sits out an extra week. He’s such a good young kid and he has a bright future. I’m glad the club backed him to be fullback from start of year.’’
Replies
I actually miss Gordon, he was such a solid, top quality bloke.
He's a very well respected player. Apparently he wants to retire from NRL after this season and play country RL.
yeah if his leg is not full strength i would not risk him
French scored 19 tries in 13 games from there last year & he won't hav to tackle the bigger blokes all the time.
Didn't he score at least 6 of those tries in 2 games (2 hatricks) while playing fullback last year ?
Agreed. Plus i'm keen to see Will Smith at 6 again! He's a handy player. Gutho wont disappoint at FB either!