A 'shattered' Slade Griffin has thanked the rugby league public for their lovely messages of support as he copes with the reality of a lengthy and arduous return from injury.
The nib Newcastle Knight suffered a season ending knee injury last week and faces 9-12 months on the sidelines.
"Thank you to everyone for your kind messages," Griffin posted on Instagram.
"It's times like these that you know the rugby league community is one big family. I'm shattered I won't be able to lace up for the @nrlknights (Newcastle Knights) for a long time.
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"Lucky someone sent an angel to look after me time and time again. @gracealoma (Grace Courtenay) I'm sorry but I thank you for being strong and for looking after me like a baby."
His third ACL injury to his left knee, Griffin has every right to be upset.
Yet according to Physical Performance Manager, Tony Ayoub, Griffin is optimistic.
"Surprisingly positive," Ayoub said of Griffin's mental state.
"In his own words, 'I'll see where it takes me'.
"He's really positive about coming back. He's already spoken to a couple of guys who have had multiple knee-ACL's and he's certainly getting some positive vibes from them.
"You look at the way he works and how positive he is, how hard and professional he is, if anyone's going to come back, it's going to be him."
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The hooker's injury is as bad as it gets.
He suffered multiple ruptures to ligaments in his knee, including a ruptured ACL graft, ruptured lateral ligament and torn lateral meniscus.
"Unfortunately, it's probably the worst possible news," Ayoub said.
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"Slade had two reconstructions on that knee and unfortunately he's re-torn through the ACL graft.
"He's got a lateral ligament tear. Virtually that whole lateral joint line's pretty mangled at the moment.
"We're just getting some information from a couple of different surgeons, we're gathering a couple of different opinions and hopefully we'll have that by the end of this week, early next week.
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"There's no doubt his season is over. It's probably going to be at least a 9-12 month (recovery) but he's a really positive kid. He's going to work hard."
Injured players and expected return dates:
Tautau Moga (ACL, Season)
Slade Griffin (Knee, Season)
Jacob Saifiti (Shoulder, Round 24)
Kalyn Ponga (Hamstring, Round 20-21)
Daniel Saifiti (Foot, Round 18-19)
Mitchell Pearce (Pectoral, Round 18-19)
