Sam Keenan thought he’d just copped a knock as you do in rugby league. When the fullback, who plays for Newcastle’s Western Suburbs, eventually looked down at his leg he dismissed the injury as a bit of “white paint”. It was much worse.
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Teammates peered over from a distance and quickly turned away, seeing the laceration and grimacing. His coach called it “horrific”.
The Hunter-based, 23-year-old said doctors on duty at John Hunter Hospital last weekend told him they’ve “never even seen stab wounds like it”.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Keenan said.
But despite being on crutches after receiving 28 stitches to repair the 20 centimetre long and six centimetre deep slice on the outside of his lower left leg, Keenan is determined to feature in the Newcastle Rugby League finals series come September.
“It’s only going to be a three or four week turnaround,” he said.
“It could have been a lot worse, but I somehow managed to escape any major damage to muscles, blood vessels or bones.
“It’s just a matter of rest now so the skin stays together. I’ve got crutches for two weeks, but hopefully I get the stitches out in a couple of days. Then it’s a matter of avoiding any infection and going from there.
“I’m pretty keen to get back out there and play again before the end of the year.”
Keenan still remains “unsure” about what exactly caused the damage. Possibly a sharp edge on strapping, some protective equipment or a stray boot. He dismisses any type of “foul play”.
“It’s just a freak accident,” Keenan said. “It all happened so quickly, It’s not really clear how it split.”
The incident occurred just after the half-hour mark with Wests leading the Goannas 12-0 at Cessnock Sportsground on Saturday, July 21.
Keenan was the second receiver in a backline move 20 metres out and 15 metres in, running towards the south-eastern corner.
Cessnock centre Marvin Filipo rushes out of the defensive line and attempts to tackle Keenan, who skips free and darts to midfield before passing the ball.
After hobbling in back play for around 30 seconds, Keenan eventually realises the seriousness of the seemingly innocuous moment.
He raises his hand, gets attention from the trainers and sits down before being stretchered off.
“I just thought I’d copped a bad knock on my shin bone,” Keenan said.
“I was limping a bit but thought I’d be right. When I eventually looked down I actually thought the flesh and bone was white paint from the ground markings.
“I tried to wipe it off and that’s when I knew I was in trouble. It didn’t look like it could happen on a footy field.”
Keenan, a carpenter by trade who is renovating a house with friend and Knights forward Lachlan Fitzgibbon, said the worst part of the ordeal was a 12-hour wait for treatment.
“That was the hardest part,” he said.
“It was open for 12 hours and I just had to look at it. They had a pretty busy night up at the hospital and there wasn’t a lot of bleeding.
“It was mainly a flesh wound … There was no dirt in there, but it still took about two hours to get cleaned out.”
Keenan, who had a bout of cellulitis near the same spot a few years ago, wasn’t actually going to play the fixture at all.
“I’d been crook as in bed all week with a bit of salmonella,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to play at all, but [coach] Matt Lantry asked me for half a game.
“In the end I probably shouldn’t have played. It’s just been one of those weeks.”
Wests were eventually beaten 25-12 by Cessnock.
This weekend Keenan will be watching from the sidelines as the equal fourth Rosellas, who defeated Souths 22-16 at Harker Oval on Sunday, travel to Kurri Sportsground for a catch-up game against the Bulldogs.
Transferred to Saturday from earlier in the season because of representative commitments, the round-seven encounter will be the only action for Newcastle RL first grade across August 4 and 5.
It comes with both clubs trying to seal a spot in this year’s semis. Wests are in a two-way share of fourth, but just two points shy of the competition lead, while Kurri are just one rung back on the ladder, but two wins outside the top five.
Three regular-season matches remain next month before the play-offs start on the first weekend in September. Wests and Kurri are set to meet again at Harker Oval on August 19 while they also clash with frontrunners Maitland and last-placed Macquarie on the run home.
LADDER: Maitland, Lakes 16; Central 15; Souths, Wests 14; Cessnock, Kurri 10; Macquarie 7.
