ST GEORGE Illawarra’s new high performance boss admits being nervous when he had to tell hulking 130-kilogram prop Mose Masoe he needed more surgery on his knee.
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Nathan Pickworth, a former elite level swimmer who trained with and competed against Ian Thorpe, had known Masoe since working with the Samoa squad in 2014.
This curve-ball might just stretch the working relationship.
Masoe suffered an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury last pre-season and is still yet to pull on the Red V jersey.
However, Pickworth believes the latest operation, to remove a “cyclops lesion” and clean up around the patella, will finally allow Masoe to be fit and firing next year.
“He had surgery last Tuesday and so far he’s going really well,” Pickworth said.
“In the break we looked as some running mechanic things and it was pretty evident there was a mechanical problem, limiting his ability to accelerate.
“I was a bit nervous when I had to tell Mose, I’m not going to lie.
“It’s his third surgery this year and I was pretty nervous how he was going to take it. I was pleasantly surprised how pumped he was we could find a solution.”
However, Pickworth is unable to put a timeframe on a return and is in doubt for round one against Penrith in March. The Dragons’ head of athletic performance said the club would be patient with Masoe.
“The coach (Paul McGregor), Mose and a number of people asked me when he is back now,” Pickworth said.
“My answer has been, if you go around the world and try to find a 133kg Polynesian front row rugby league player that had an ACL (and resulting complications), you wouldn’t be able to find one.
“So there’s no clear protocol to take. My initial thoughts are you just take it symptomatically about how he’s feeling, but it’s the old saying, you’ve got to walk before you jog and jog before you can run.”
On the comeback trail from his own hip and shoulder surgeries, Russell Packer believes adding Masoe and Raiders buy Paul Vaughan can make the Dragons one of the most fearsome packs in the NRL.
St George Illawarra added Tariq Sims from Newcastle mid-year, while Tyson Frizell broke into the NSW and Australian representative squads.
“(Mose is) looking at it as an opportunity to play again on a good functioning knee,” Packer said.
“We’ve spent a bit of time together in the rehab room, but it’ll be exciting to have him back, though I don’t know they’ll be too excited when they have to tackle him.
“Vaughany is a big signing, another big front-rower, you can never have too many of them and it means you’ve got to be playing well to be in the team.”
Packer missed the final two rounds of this year’s competition to undergo hip surgery, then, after playing injured for much of the season, had a full shoulder reconstruction to be ready to return in the trial games.