Kurt Puts Brave Face On Broken Dreams

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday May 14, 2008

BRETT KEEBLE RUGBY LEAGUE

FIRST-CHOICE NSW

halfback Kurt Gidley

has dealt with the

disappointment of missing

the opening State of Origin

game next week and still

wants to play some part in

this year's series.

Gidley was literally and

figuratively shattered

yesterday morning

when scans revealed he

had fractured his right

cheekbone in a head clash

with Storm lock Dallas

Johnson in the opening

minute of Newcastle's

18-4 loss to Melbourne on

Monday night.

It was a devastating

blow for the 25-year-old

Newcastle and Australian

utility, who came off the

bench in the Centenary

Test at the SCG last Friday

and was told he would

have worn the NSW No.7

jersey at ANZ Stadium next

Wednesday.

Knights surgical

consultant Dr Neil Halpin

dismissed speculation

Gidley suffered further

damage by playing on

against the Storm and was

confi dent the dynamic allrounder

would be back on

the field within four weeks.

Gidley saw oral and

maxillofacial surgeon Dr

Paul Coceancig yesterday

and will consult with

him and Dr Halpin again

tomorrow, once the

swelling has subsided, to

discuss the possibility of

undergoing minor surgery

on Friday.

Gidley recalled taking

his team's first hit-up of

the game and accidentally

banging heads with

Johnson in the tackle.

"I knew straight away

there was something

wrong. It knocked me

around a bit and I felt

dizzy and a bit of light

concussion, but my cheek

just didn't feel right,"

Gidley said.

"I had to sit on the

wing to try to gather my

thoughts for a second."

Knights medical offi cer Dr

Peter McGeoch assessed

him on the run and was

sure that if Gidley's

cheekbone was fractured,

it was not depressed, and

both agreed for him to

continue.

"It wouldn't have

changed anything if I came

off. I still would have been

ruled out anyway," he said.

Continued Page 85

"This is probably

the lowest I've felt

but it was a freak

thing - the first

hit-up of the

game. I can't

dwell on it now

- it's how you

bounce back."

- KURT GIDLEY

Kurt determined to bounce back

From Page 88

"I just had to battle through and keep going. I always try to pride myself on staying out there, even if you're injured, if you think you can still contribute to the team.

"If it's a leg injury and you can't run properly, or if it's a shoulder and you can't work in defence, you shouldn't be out there, but you don't pass with your face or run on your face, so I just thought I'll keep going."

Gidley had less than four hours sleep on Monday because he and teammates Danny Buderus and Ben Cross were booked on a 6am flight to Sydney yesterday to enter Origin camp.

Scans in Sydney confirmed the bad news.

"It was shattering. I didn't say a word I just stared off into space for a while," he said.

"It's something that you work for your whole playing career, since you were a kid.

"You grow up watching Origin, and I got a taste of it last year off the bench, but to start the game was something I really wanted to do this year.

"I haven't played in Sydney yet either, which was another thing I was looking forward to.

"I'd been told to pack my bags from Melbourne to go straight to Sydney and I was going to be starting the game."

Gidley dislocated his left shoulder in Origin I last year but recovered in time to make an impact off the bench in the Blues' 18-4 victory in the Origin III dead rubber.

"This is probably the lowest I've felt, but it was a freak thing the first hit-up of the game," he said. "I can't dwell on it now it's how you bounce back."

Knights coach Brian Smith said Gidley underlined his toughness by finishing the game.

"To play 79-and-a-half minutes was just amazing," Smith said. "Catching a bomb, the whole bit he never backed off at all."

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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