{"id":396067,"date":"2024-05-22T05:26:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T05:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396067"},"modified":"2024-05-22T06:05:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T06:05:16","slug":"the-innocuous-hit-that-put-origin-dream-on-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396067","title":{"rendered":"The innocuous hit that put Origin dream on ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

C\ufeffonnor Watson<\/a> can add himself to the New South Wales Blues<\/a>' growing casualty ward.<\/p>\n

The Roosters<\/a> utility suffered a \ufeffthroat injury during the side's 38-30 loss to the Sharks<\/a> on Saturday which will rule him out for the next three to four weeks.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the \ufeffNRL's Indigenous Round launch, Watson acknowledged that his latest injury setback was "disappointing" but manageable.<\/p>\n

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\"Connor<\/p>\n

"My voice has come back OK," he told media.<\/p>\n

"I thought I was going to be sweet to be honest \ufeff\u2014 I remember getting the knock in the game.<\/p>\n

"It was such an innocuous hit with Sione Katoa. If you watch the tackle, it was a nothing tackle. He kind of rolled onto the outside and as he spun on me I mistimed it, I got my body wrong. I don't know if it was his shoulder or his elbow that initially struck me but I grabbed at my throat.<\/p>\n

"I did play the rest of the game with it and I feel like I could play [this weekend] but every\ufeff else said not to do that."<\/p>\n

Watson previously missed a month of footy during 2022 with a \ufeffthroat cartilage fracture and only this season returned from a long layoff with a serious knee injury.<\/p>\n

\"Roosters<\/p>\n

As the throat\ufeff houses respiratory passages and supports breathing, making a full recovery is paramount before any talk of rugby league action.<\/p>\n

"I did this injury two years ago on the other side of my throat so I thought it was going to be sweet but then we got another couple of radiologists to look at it and they found [a fracture]," Watson said.<\/p>\n

"It's an annoying one \ufeffbut, I mean, there's not much I can really do about it so I'll get more advice to see how long I should be out and what sort of risks are associated with playing."<\/p>\n

The Roosters are\ufeff currently seeking expert opinions on how best to return Watson to play, including if adjustments to his tackling technique are required moving forward.<\/p>\n

"I've probably made, I don't know, a thousand tackles and I've been hit in the throat twice, so the risk of it happening again is quite small but it has happened twice," Watson said.<\/p>\n

"Being a smaller guy in the middle, when these bigger dudes run at you, you're more likely to get hit by a shoulder, an elbow, or something like that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I don't know if I just need to \ufeffkeep lean."<\/p>\n

Throat injuries can be \ufeffextremely serious. A horror injury in 2021 saw Andrew Fifita spend five days in an induced coma<\/a> after he received an accidental elbow from an opponent.<\/p>\n

The injury nearly \ufefftook his life and his footy career \u2014 a reality that Watson has contemplated.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"\ufeffThe risk can be high and these are some of the conversations that we've had," he said.<\/p>\n

"[Former Knights hooker] Rory Kostjasyn retired after getting hit in the throat during pre-season [in 2017].<\/p>\n

"Rory was my assistant coach at Newcastle when I was there and [his throat injury] still affects his voice today, so there are conversations we're having around if it's worth it for sure because you could potentially lose your voice \u2014 and Fifita \ufeffwas the worst case ever where he couldn't breathe."<\/p>\n

After a strong start to the season, Watson's name had been thrown around as a contender for a Blues jersey\ufeff. Now, the untimely injury will sideline the 27-year-old for the State of Origin<\/a> opener in Sydney on June 5.<\/p>\n

Asked if he was close to making his way onto the squad for game one, Watson was coy.<\/p>\n

"I don't know, you would have to ask Madge [coach Michael Maguire] about that," he said.<\/p>\n

"Origin is what every kid dreams of so of course I wanted to put my hand up and give \ufeffmyself every opportunity to be selected.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffFor me, I was coming back from that big injury last year and my biggest focus was really just about enjoying my football again and being consistent. So, everything that comes with that is cool for me. I'd rather just be back out there.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffA throat injury, as disappointing and annoying as it is, is only short-term."<\/p>\n

\ufeffDespite the latest blow, Watson has not given up on making his Blues debut.<\/p>\n

"It's my dream," he said.<\/p>\n

"So, to be able to do that one day would be incredible because I know how much as a little kid my mates and I grew up loving Origin and watching it."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

C\ufeffonnor Watson can add himself to the New South Wales Blues' growing casualty ward. The Roosters utility suffered a \ufeffthroat injury during the side's 38-30 […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":396069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=396067"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396072,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396067\/revisions\/396072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/396069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=396067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=396067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=396067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}