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Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thomas Flegler in startling admission about NRL future after 'worrying' drama
Dolphins forward Thomas Flegler says he still does not know exactly when he'll play in the NRL again but insists he will "definitely come back" at some point. The former Maroons forward hasn't played since round five last year when he sustained nerve damage to his left shoulder against the Tigers and there have been concerns he may never play again after a series of complications for the luckless prop. Flegler waited five months after first sustaining the injury before it became clear that the nerve was not going to heal naturally and he would have to go under the knife. So the 25-year-old underwent nerve transfer surgery in September but the recovery has been painfully slow and hopes he might be right for the start of this season quickly evaporated. While progress has been incremental, it has also been positive for Flegler, despite the Dolphins star admitting that the nature and uncertainty around the injury has been "worrying". Breaking his silence on his injury ordeal on the Inside Ball podcast, Flegler admitted that he may not return to the field for the Dolphins this year, but insists his NRL career is far from over. 'I'm confident I will come back,' Flegler said on the Inside Ball podcast. 'I will be back next year, I could be back this year, I don't know. I'm taking it month by month at the moment. I will definitely come back, but it is worrying. When you do an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) or have a shoulder reco, you know it's either six or nine months (recovery), give or take a month here and there. "You can see a progression the whole way, but with nerve damage, the progression is minimal, it's very slow. Everything is unknown to the point where I don't know exactly when I'm going to be back.' Flegler says the only other player he knows with a similar injury is Moses Leota and he's used the premiership-winning Panthers prop as a source of inspiration. "The only player that has got a similar injury to this is Moses Leota who wears a big pad on his shoulders," he said. Flegler has played 100 NRL games and represented the Maroons and Australia, and his absence has been acutely felt for both his club and state. The 25-year-old concedes that the nerve transfer surgery he undertook was a "last resort", highlighting the concerns many have had about the rampaging forward's career. But Flegler said after the initial injury did not improve as he and the medical specialists had hoped, he was left with little choice. "Once you have the nerve transplant that is last resort," he added. "Sometimes it can come back naturally. We tried that and unfortunately it didn't so I had a nerve transplant. They went down to my tricep, pulled a nerve up to my deltoid and sewed it together. It has started to heal." RELATED: Panthers in telling backflip on Blaize Talagi after Parramatta switch Calls for Billy Slater to hand State of Origin debut to Queensland gun Flegler is still heavily involved at Dolphins training sessions and his mindset has been a huge boost to his teammates, even if he finds it hard to watch games and not be involved. 'I do have strength (in his shoulder). It is getting there. It is starting to improve, but it is very small steps. If you saw me train, you would have no idea I'm injured. Hopefully I'm back soon.'
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Maguire goes public with sad revelation as Walters tipped to join Broncos' rivals
Michael Maguire has opened up on the "empty feeling" he felt after leading NSW to State of Origin glory in 2024 that sparked his call to join the Brisbane Broncos. And former coach Kevin Walters is being tipped to land a head-coaching role with the NRL's newest team. Walters was sacked by the Broncos last September after the team's 12th-placed finish, which came after they made the grand final in 2023. The Broncos then moved quickly to sign Maguire, which left the NSW Blues needing a new coach. Speaking at the club's season launch on Thursday night, Maguire reflected on a moment of deep reflection he experienced last July that made him realise he wanted to be a full-time NRL coach again. He had just wrapped up a 2-1 State of Origin series win as NSW coach, but was left with mixed emotions that it was all over. "I will never forget how I had finished the Origin (series) and had to do some media the next morning and it was a really strange feeling," Maguire said. "We'd had a great night together and I had to do some stuff on Channel Nine and the other networks. "I went back to say goodbye to the players (at the team hotel) and literally all of them and all my staff had gone back to clubland. I stood there I had this feeling of, 'where is my team?' I can't go back and do something with this group'." Maguire said he got back into preparing for the 2025 Origin series with a nagging feeling that he still wanted to be a club coach like he was at Souths and the Wests Tigers. "Then the Broncos job came up literally out of the blue," he said. "It was a job I looked at and I thought of the gravitas of what the Broncos are, the history and how some of the all-time great players have come out of this club. I thought, 'I have got to go and do it'." Walters also lifted the lid on how his sacking came about on Friday. Speaking on his new 'Inside Ball' podcast with co-host Ben Dobbin, the Broncos great said he was preparing for the 2025 season with new assistant coaches Ben Te'o and Trent Barrett, but had a feeling something wasn't right. "I accelerated things," Walters said. "I rang my manager and said, 'I have got a bad feeling in my stomach that this isn't quite right'. He made a phone call and we went in and they made the decision to finish up with me. I was shocked because we were a long way down the track with 2025 planning." RELATED: Calls for NRL action after Zac Lomax exposed in prank by teammate Corey Parker set to 'leave everything' in $3 million move with wife But Walters confessed he's certain he'll coach in the NRL again soon. And leading NRL journalist Michael Carayannnis reckons it could be with the new PNG franchise in 2028. Former Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou is reportedly keen for the job and willing to move to PNG. Demetriou is coach of the PNG Kumuls national team, and knows the players and systems better than most. Mal Meninga has also left the door ajar and hasn't ruled it out, but Carayannis believes Walters would be perfect. "His larrikin personality and the fact he's not as intense 24/7 like a Madge Maguire," Carayannis said about Walters on SEN radio on Friday. "Those really intense sort of coaches won't work in PNG. Kevvie does have a hard edge to maybe I could see him there."
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kevin Walters in fresh swipe at Broncos after Gorden Tallis' revelation about sacking
Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters has taken a little swipe at the club for their professionalism following his exit after his first major interview since his departure. The Broncos left the NRL world in shock last year when they sacked Walters after the club missed out on the top eight. Walters took the Brisbane Broncos to the NRL grand final in 2023, but failed to stop the free fall in 2024 as the club missed out on finals footy. Despite injuries to Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas, the club's hierarchy felt the roster didn't deliver. And in a shock move right after their season ended, Walters was told he was no longer head coach. Michael Maguire was also promptly hired in his place. The move certainly angered the Broncos Old Boys with the likes of Gorden Tallis fuming at how the club had treated a legend. Tallis took aim at his former club and claimed Walters never had the backing needed to succeed. 'I don't think he ever felt like he got the support that he wanted. From day one, he had to go buy his own shirt to do his own press conference. I felt like he was doing it all alone," Tallis said on NRL 360 last year after the news Walters had been sacked. And four months after his exit, Walters has gone into detail about how the situation unfolded. Speaking on his 'Inside Ball' Podcast, Walters felt he needed to front the media the next day after the shock announcement. But in a cheeky move, Walters also recounted Tallis' comment and claimed he lifted the professional standards at the Broncos having been left hung out to dry on his very first day at the headquarters. "I wanted to stand up in front of everyone and let them know that I was leaving," he said on the podcast. "That's why I did it. I did it because I want to own what happened and accept responsibility that I was moving on. When I got into the building (to begin the job), I had to find my own shirt to get into the building and get a photo, compared to where they are now. "We missed the finals last year by two wins which is not a lot. But also we should have done better and I accept that full responsibility. But for it to pan out the way it did, considering when I walked into the building (the Broncos had finished last the previous season), I went to a grand final in 2023 … I'm comfortable with what I did at the Broncos in my time there." Walters was planning for the next season right after the Broncos came 12th with a season review being undertaken by the Broncos hierarchy. And Walters claimed he was with new assistant coaches Ben Te'o and Trent Barrett when he felt something was off. "I accelerated things," Walters said on his podcast. "I rang my manager and said, 'I have got a bad feeling in my stomach that this isn't quite right'. He made a phone call and we went in and they made the decision to finish up with me. I was shocked because we were a long way down the track with 2025 planning." Despite being moved on, Walters has taken up a media job with Fox Sports for the upcoming NRL season. His son Billy is still in the squad and Walters said he only wants the best for the Broncos, a club he won five premiership with during his playing days. "I want to see the Broncos do well," Walters said. "I am comfortable with my contribution to the Broncos. Coaching is my passion. I am going to coach again (in the NRL). I have got a lot of belief in myself."
