Melbourne Storm's Marion Seve wears goggles in NRL against Penrith Panthers return to prevent further eye injury

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15 hours ago

When Marion Seve got the ball with 14 minutes left on the clock and the Storm down four, he faced a tough task.
Penrith winger Brian To'o was shooting up at him and made sweet contact right around the ball just as it arrived in the Melburnian's mitts.
Somehow, Seve held the ball, spun out of the tackle of one of the game's strongest players, quickly did the correct maths that he was better off pinning his ears back rather than passing to unmarked try-scoring freak Xavier Coates, angled his body perfectly, and dove for the corner.
With Dylan Edwards and Isaiah Papali'i hitting him in cover defence, Seve managed to plant his left hand and hold it and himself inside the field of play to slide over for the game-tying try in what turned out to be a thrilling golden point win.
It was Seve's first NRL game over the year, aside from a 160-second outing at the end of a round-four loss to the Dragons, and when he got up to celebrate with his teammates, another layer of the impressive effort from the hard-running centre became apparent.
His goggles were around his mouth, but they had done their job.
Yes, there have been a few sodden Sydney games in the past few weeks, but goggles seem a bit excessive. Unless you're Seve.
The 30-year-old was at risk of going blind in his right eye after copping a stray boot to the face during a NSW Cup game in June, coincidentally also against the Panthers.
"It happened so quick during the game. And then by the time I went to the hospital, I couldn't see anything," he said.
"I'm just grateful for the surgeons and physios at the club."
After surgery, doctors told him he would have to wear protective goggles if he wanted to keep playing rugby league, with the Storm medical staff sourcing an appropriate pair.
Seve immediately knew what was coming his way.
"I started laughing, not laughing because I was wearing it, more laughing because I knew that the boys were gonna give me stick for it," he said.
"I knew straight away, I could picture them just calling me all sorts of names.
"Superhero or whatever. I've got Ninja Turtles, pirate cyborg, so many."
The goggles were only approved for use by the NRL a day before the game, with the league making a special exception for Seve due to his unique injury.
Almost two months after the "traumatic" incident, Seve first rocked the eyewear in a game at the start of August, as he scored three tries in a sodden NSW Cup clash with Newcastle.
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"It was hammering down rain," he said.
"It's probably the worst weather you can play in with goggles. They don't have wipers."
All Blacks great Ardie Savea wore similar specs in the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The vision in Savea's left eye was deteriorating and he was concerned about the risk of damaging his healthy right eye, so he rocked the goggles briefly in New Zealand's pool match against Canada.
But, after coming on in the final 10 minutes of the match, Savea fumbled a ball and had the goggles knocked askew.
Before long, he ripped them off and hurled them to the sideline, but Seve sported his for all 82 minutes of his return to the NRL despite conditions not entirely dissimilar to that NSW Cup clash with the Knights earlier this month.
Seve said he and the trainers were continually trying to keep them clean through the match, as the damp Western Sydney Stadium turf wore away to reveal a muddy undergrowth.
The decisive try, his first at NRL level since a 2023 semifinal, took a huge chunk of that turf and left him gagged by the goggles but he persisted as he always has done.
Through serious injuries and even plastic surgery on a gruesome split ear in 2020, Seve has been restricted to two full games in almost two years, with coach Craig Bellamy dubbing him one of the unluckiest players in the league.
But he says he had a secret weapon for getting through.
"I'll say it's my faith. I'm really strong in church. Obviously, believe in God," he said.
"And then I have a strong support crew around me — obviously my family and especially everyone here at the club; physios, the boys, doctors, everyone played a part.
"So yeah, you can say unlucky, but I think I'm lucky to be here right now and still playing. I'm so grateful for that."