TOM PROVES HE’S TOUGH CUSTOMER
Cowboy played on after horrific injury, writes Nic Darveniza
CHANEL Harris-tavita described his ruptured testicle earlier this year as the worst pain he had ever experienced, an injury so debilitating the Warriors playmaker couldn’t utter a word for 45 minutes in a recordbreaking defeat to the Storm.
Warrington Wolves forward Jack Hughes described his horror collision with an opposition knee in 2019 using the same words: “It was the worst pain ever. I couldn’t stand up for five minutes … I would not wish that on anyone.”
Cowboys playmaker Tom Dearden ruptured his testicle during a balland-all tackle on 105kg Warriors backrower Jack Murchie in the 24th minute of last week’s blowout win over the Warriors.
Dearden barely flinched. He even beat Murchie back to his feet.
He didn’t mention the blow at halftime.
He didn’t report it to the club’s medical staff after the game, or when he was named the Cowboys’ player of the match.
Post-injury Dearden carved up the Warriors for two tries, completed 11/12 tackles, broke the line once and beat three defenders on five carries, according to exclusive data provided by Fox Sports Lab.
It was only when Dearden returned to Wally Tallis Way for recovery the following morning, “all swollen” in the nether regions, that the 21-year-old was taken to hospital for a scan.
Four hours later he underwent emergency surgery to save his testicle.
“He’s a tough kid,” Todd Payten offered, in a contender for the NRL’S understatement of the decade. “I think it’s a remarkable effort to get the game out, and the way that he played, wow. Didn’t knock him offcentre, he just stayed in the game and he got our man of the match.
“It just highlights how far he’s come and how important he is to the team and how tough he is.”
Testicular injuries are the stuff of sporting legend.
Former New Zealand All Blacks captain Buck Shelford won 93.18 per cent of his international rugby union appearances between 1986 and 1990 but is still best remembered for playing on for 60 minutes with a torn scrotum in his debut game.
Dearden’s toughness deserves the same mythological treatment, his story passed down from generation of Cowboys fans to the next.
Remarkably the youngster is in contention to return next week to take on the Panthers.
It will come down to how the fiveeighth can tolerate the pain to get the job done, his coach said.
If pain is all that can stop him then nothing will.
In his absence Payten has handed North Queensland’s No.6 jersey to fullback Scott Drinkwater for Saturday’s South Sydney showdown, with Hamiso Tabuai-fidow returning to fullback at the expense of Ben Hampton in the side.
“I considered Benny Hampton coming in, and then Hammer (Tabuai-fidow) has had limited minutes in this past 12 rounds. Both of those guys are well accustomed to playing those roles,” Payten said.
“I’m confident we’ve made the right decision.”