Former Knights head of physical performance Tony Ayoub has defended himself against explosive claims from Nathan Ross that he badly mishandled a series of the winger's injuries, ultimately leading to his medical retirement.
Ross, who played 60 matches for the club between 2015-2018, retired from the game due to medical reasons in early 2019, saying at the time that ongoing groin and pelvic injuries made it impossible for him to continue playing.
In an interview with Newcastle Herald journalist Barry Toohey, Ross alleged that the club's then Physical Performance Manager, Ayoub, didn't treat the injuries properly, a claim Ayoub denies.
"Firstly, I am sorry if Nathan feels that way," Ayoub said in a statement provided to Wide World of Sports.
"It would have been nice if Nathan had reached out to discuss his issues before he aired it in the public domain.
"I can only draw on my 30 years of experience in dealing with injuries and what I see as a fit way to treat and train them in what was my capacity as head physio and then head of performance at different clubs."
Ayoub continued, observing that he always had his players' best interests at heart.
"In some instances certain players needed pushing based on what I was assessing at that time. At no time have I intentionally pushed a player that I didn't think could handle the loads or I would never put them in a position where I felt it would be to the detriment of their health," Ayoub said.
"Again, it's disappointing that Nathan feels that way and it is even more disappointing that he chose a public forum to discuss his issues. At no time has he reached out.
"I would be more than happy to discuss this with Nathan in a private manner."
Ayoub left Newcastle to join the Bulldogs in 2018, and is no longer involved with the NRL.
Ross' grievances include allegedly being told nothing was wrong after he says he tore his groin against Brisbane in 2018.
"I got told I was just being weak and to harden up – so I strapped my right groin and then my left groin tore, and so once again I got told nothing was wrong there but I was being sent for the wrong imagery, so I wasn't able to be treated properly," Ross said on the podcast Toohey's News.
"I was training one day where I could barely run – and my genitals actually went numb from the nerves being pinched inside my pelvis. I went to the head of high performance and he basically told me to run it off.
"There wasn't much care there at the time."
Ross said he knew it was time to retire when he tried to sprint to support a Kalyn Ponga linebreak, only to have forward Mitch Barnett steam past him.
"There's a mental aspect about this stuff, when you've got so many people say there's nothing wrong with you, but you know internally how your body is feeling," he said.
"The hardest thing was, the coach (Nathan Brown) knew I was injured and then in a video session he brought up that clip of Barny running past me, and tried to put me on show in front of the whole team.
"That was pretty hard to deal with, when you've got the leader of a club trying to make people feel less than what they are."
Ross eventually saw a specialist in Sydney who he claims 'couldn't believe' the degeneration to the winger's pelvis, or that it wasn't flagged earlier.
"I had both my groins operated on, I had two hernias repaired and I've got mesh now basically wrapped my pelvis, kind of like Crimsafe, to hold it all stable," Ross said.
"It probably took about two years after I medically retired before my body got back to normal function."
Ross conceded his relationship with Brown, who has since left Newcastle and is now in charge of New Zealand, wasn't good, going so far as to describe it as "pretty poor."
Wide World of Sports has approached Brown for comment.
Wide World of Sports does not suggest the allegations against Ayoub or Brown are true, simply that they have been made.
In an email response, the Newcastle Knights acknowledged they had been made aware of the comments on the podcast, and noted they will follow due process, while respecting the need for privacy and confidentiality.
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