An enormous boost to new coach Jason Ryles’ first season at Parramatta is that Dylan Brown will not need surgery to repair his injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Amidst concerns that he may have torn his ACL during Friday night’s “Spoon Bowl” victory over the Wests Tigers, Brown had knee scans on Saturday morning.
Although the extent of Brown’s ACL injury was not as great as initially believed, those scans did confirm it.
Thus, Brown is not in need of surgery, which keeps players out for nearly nine months on average.
“A rehabilitation plan is presently being discussed by the medical team,” the Eels stated in a statement.
But it is unlikely that Brown will be able to compete for New Zealand in the Pacific Championships at the end of the year.
If Brown had sustained a long-term injury, Ryles and the Eels would have suffered a great deal, as he might have missed nearly half of the following season.
Mitch Moses has played in just eight games for Parramatta this season, and the team has already had a rollercoaster of a season, finishing 15th overall.
Clint Gutherson, the team captain, played through the season despite suffering three broken ribs and a torn quad, according to interim coach Trent Barrett.
“I wasn’t going to play the entire season,” Gutherson declared.
Only because of Baz, the team, and the club. This year has gone south quite quickly, I told the boys.
“It didn’t work out the way we had hoped, with (fired coach) Brad Arthur here and us on the winning side.
Many of our performances, I believe, reflected how Baz and the crew have managed to keep us together. Because you don’t want to disappoint your squad, you want to play.”
After a terrible year, the Eels have at least shown fight in the past month after taking it to Penrith and then overcoming St George Illawarra and the Tigers.
“It was more just about playing with the team we’ve got,” Gutherson said after the 60-26 win over Benji Marshall’s men.
“We’re losing a lot of players. It’s a bit of a changeover year for us.
“Just to be able to play with people like Reg (Campbell-Gillard), Blaize (Talagi) … he’s a wonderful young boy moving forward.
“You like to do a role for this team still, and that’s why I played.”
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