Cameron Murray has revealed he is still more than a week away from being able to complete full contact sessions at training following off-season wrist surgery.
As teammate Cody Walker said he was optimistic about his own chances of returning from a calf injury in time for Souths’ opening match against the Dolphins, Murray revealed it was touch and go whether he would play in round one.
Murray played a Test against New Zealand with a broken wrist last October, and only stopped training with a protective guard over his left wrist late last week.
There have been conflicting reports about Murray’s availability for round one, but the Rabbitohs skipper admitted he had plenty still to do over the next month to take the field – even though he said Wayne Bennett would leave the final decision up to him.
“I saw the surgeon [Stuart Myers] late last week, and he gave me the green light to play in round one if I was OK, so I’m working towards that,” Murray told this masthead on Tuesday.
South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray gives an update on his round-one availability.Credit: Getty Images
“To be fair, it’s been a pretty conservative approach up until now. I really haven’t done much, and I’ve still got a lot to tick off before round one. We’ve only got a bit over four weeks.
“I still don’t know if I’ll play. I really want to. As much as I want to be out there, the smart thing would be to not rush it, and not re-injure or re-damage anything in there because my rehab has already been a slow process, and I don’t want to go through it again. I’ll work hard and try to do everything I can, but it’s a case of wait and see.”
Murray injured his wrist during the captain’s run before Australia’s Test against New Zealand in the Pacific Championships. He went to grab Kangaroos’ teammate Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow but “felt a sharp pain in my wrist”.
Murray did not think much of the injury at the time, assuming it was ligament damage that he could treat with a painkiller before kick-off. He got through the game, but scans the next day confirmed he had ruptured the scapholunate ligament.
Cody Walker is upbeat about playing in round one.Credit: Getty Images
Questions were asked at the time about how Murray was allowed to take the field for Australia, but the forward said he had been determined to play.
“I wanted to play and if anybody had told me I couldn’t, I would have pushed hard to play anyway,” Murray said. “It was nobody’s fault except mine. I love playing with those guys, I love representing the Australian jersey, so I wanted to be there.”
Murray said his surgeon had suggested he wait a fortnight, which will be the end of next week, to start full contact training.
“But it’s pretty sore to be honest, and if you were to ask me now, I think starting contact when he told me to start is probably unlikely. It will be touch and go,” Murray said.
Souths open their campaign on the road against Bennett’s former club the Dolphins, then have an eight-day turnaround before facing St George Illawarra in Wollongong.
Campbell Graham is another player racing the clock after picking up a hand injury at training, but the news is more upbeat about five-eighth Walker.
“Without any hiccups over the next few weeks, I should be OK for round one,” Walker said. “I’m positive, I’m pretty certain I’ll play. I’ve just got to tick some boxes before then.”
Walker said it was unlikely he will be available for any of the pre-season trials, but took umbrage at suggestions he was not prioritising the Indigenous All Stars. The All Stars game will be played on Saturday week.
“As everyone knows, I always put my hand up to participate in those games, it’s important to me and my family,” Walker said.
“To see some reports come out that I withdrew, that is not true. I’m unavailable due to injury. Hopefully, I can be part of the week and help out where I can.”
Bennett spent two years at NRL expansion club the Dolphins, but took Souths to the preliminary final in 2019 and 2020, and all the way to the grand final in 2021.
Murray said the only thing that had changed with the supercoach was “he’s more hungry to win”.
“The last time he was here, we weren’t far off [winning the premiership],” Murray said. “He’s a man of character, he stands for what he believes in, he’s a great role model, and cares about you.
“He has an extremely simple but effective approach with everything he does. I don’t think there are any traits that I’ve seen in any other coach that he doesn’t have that helps players and teams get better.”
