Mortlock to miss Super 14 season

[The InnFORCEr]

were they red or brown ..

nah they were HP (hardly palatable)

[Burgs]

bugger. Its going to be a very very inexperienced Brumbies team next season, so hoping Rathbone will be fit and firing to help that little bit.

Sorry Evie

http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=10760

[AndyS]

What pisses me off about it is that he played on in the RWC - I find it really difficult to believe that Mortlock with an unreconstructed shoulder is better than any other option at 13. If he is, it is a huge inditement on Australian rugby development and coaching.

[inactive]

that is a shame i only like the reds and tahs doing badly not the brumbies nah jj

[The InnFORCEr]

bugger. Its going to be a very very inexperienced Brumbies team next season, so hoping Rathbone will be fit and firing to help that little bit.

from a week or so ago...sorry Evie

November 16, 2007 - 1:31PM

The ACT Brumbies will be forced to start the Super 14 season minus another of their few experienced campaigners with Test winger Clyde Rathbone to undergo knee surgery on Monday.

Already missing Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock for the opening seven rounds through a shoulder injury and with veterans George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Jeremy Paul all moved on, the loss of Rathbone is a blow.

However the South African-born flyer is expected to only miss the first match, and be back to face the Highlanders in Canberra on February 23.

After battling through an injury-ravaged year which included missing the final four Super 14 matches and any chance of World Cup selection, recent scans detected a tear in the upper part of his patella tendon in his left knee.

"The past few months have been an extremely frustrating period where we haven't been able to pinpoint the exact problem," Rathbone said.

"I've had this injury for a while and until now the scans hadn't revealed the problem so to finally know what's wrong is a relief.

"While I do have to go through the rehabilitative process again, I'd much rather be dealing with it now than having to miss matches in the middle or end of the season."

Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher says while the surgery will disrupt Rathbone's pre-season training block, he's looking forward to having him back in the early stages of the 2008 competition.

"Clyde's a quality player who's shown what a tremendous asset he is to the team," Fisher said.

"He's also a very professional player who's familiar with the rehabilitation process and he's very diligent in what he does to get back onto the park.

"In the meantime, were very fortunate with the depth we have in our outside backs, with the likes of Mark Gerrard and Adam Ashley-Cooper, while Peter Playford and Francis Fainifo were two of the outstanding wingers during the Australian Rugby Championship."

The Brumbies begin their 2008 Super 14 season against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday, February 15.

© 2007 AAP