HaroldBishop
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It's like you've forgotten 2016!
Official Andrew Fifita
- Thread starter Mark^Bastard
- Start date
Remember 2010 when we all decided to become Andrew Fifita fans, have any of you still got your old Tigers jerseys from then?
Oh the fun we have on this glorious forum, andrewforfita.com
I know you are joking but as I have said before, massively grateful to Andrew and think he was robbed of Clive Churchill.
He was an incredible player.
But at the end of the day I am a Sharks fan first and foremost. I really wish he'd gone to super league to play with David a couple years back.
stormshark
Jaws
8 games Exactly,no more no less
egg
Jaws
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Souce Brisbane Times
Took a bit of stuffing around , copying and pasting to nab this article - But I felt it was worth it .
Love the BIG Fella , a LEGEND
.
Laurie Daley wants his Indigenous All Stars side to receive the kick-off and for Andrew Fifita to take the first hit-up in Saturday night’s clash against the Maori team.
The story of Fifita’s amazing comeback from a fractured larynx - and the complications he experienced after five days in an induced coma because of a knock to the throat late last season - has been impossible to miss this week.
Fifita was told he should have died four separate times while on the operating table.
The throat has healed, but his voice is raspy, and because he was unconscious for so long, there have been constant nightmares, intense anxiety, over-sensitivity to noise, and occasional difficulties breathing whenever he tilts his head back.
Plenty of people told him to walk away from the game, including his mother who has no interest in being at CommBank Stadium on Saturday to watch the sport that nearly took the life of her boy.
Fifita, 32, knows he will experience an overwhelming fear as kick-off approaches - and Daley expects to be just as uneasy
Before the game, Andrew will be shitting himself, but rightfully so,” Daley told the Herald.
“When you’re a footy player you feel invincible, but when something like this happens, you realise you’re not. That’s something he will now have to overcome. “He will be nervous, he will be thinking about where he was last year, about the possibility he may have never played again, and then of course worry about whether he cops another one in the throat
“As much as someone says, ‘You will be right’, you’d have to be apprehensive. I’ll have nerves like him, but once he makes that first solid contact, the nerves will go.
“I’m hoping he gets it off the kick-off and he has to carry it. It’s the best way to get over all the nerves - I hope he attacks it straight away.”Despite his mental anguish in the months since the throat injury, Fifita was told he would not be entitled to a medical retirement.Had medicos agreed the knock in round 22 was enough to spell the end of his career, he could have collected the $850,000 he stands to earn at Cronulla this year, and lived a comfortable life with his wife and four young children. The payout would have been exempt from the Sharks’ salary cap.Always laughing and appearing laid-back, Fifita was self-conscious enough to cover the scar on his throat when he squeezed into the one Indigenous jersey made available during a photo shoot at Nine studios, the owners of this masthead, at the start of the week.
When the Herald asked why he was prepared to put himself through such mental torture this year, Fifita said: “I probably can’t answer that. I’d love to see myself come back from something so big like this. And this weekend I get the chance to make that dream come true. “I’ve had to learn how to wall again, run again, even chew again. It’s been a long process. I got depressed when it all happened, and I’d sit there asking, why me?
“But there were other people out there doing rehab with the trachea, people who will have holes in their throats for the rest of their lives.
“It took a lot to convince the Sharks, my teammates, my wife, everyone, that I was ready.
“In the back of my mind, my missus has one more year of uni, and I’d love to let her see that out [before retiring]. I’d also love to finish with my brother [David], and if that is here or over there [in England], we’ll see what happens. I can’t wait for Saturday
Took a bit of stuffing around , copying and pasting to nab this article - But I felt it was worth it .
Love the BIG Fella , a LEGEND
.
Laurie Daley wants his Indigenous All Stars side to receive the kick-off and for Andrew Fifita to take the first hit-up in Saturday night’s clash against the Maori team.
The story of Fifita’s amazing comeback from a fractured larynx - and the complications he experienced after five days in an induced coma because of a knock to the throat late last season - has been impossible to miss this week.
Fifita was told he should have died four separate times while on the operating table.
The throat has healed, but his voice is raspy, and because he was unconscious for so long, there have been constant nightmares, intense anxiety, over-sensitivity to noise, and occasional difficulties breathing whenever he tilts his head back.
Plenty of people told him to walk away from the game, including his mother who has no interest in being at CommBank Stadium on Saturday to watch the sport that nearly took the life of her boy.
Fifita, 32, knows he will experience an overwhelming fear as kick-off approaches - and Daley expects to be just as uneasy
Before the game, Andrew will be shitting himself, but rightfully so,” Daley told the Herald.
“When you’re a footy player you feel invincible, but when something like this happens, you realise you’re not. That’s something he will now have to overcome. “He will be nervous, he will be thinking about where he was last year, about the possibility he may have never played again, and then of course worry about whether he cops another one in the throat
“As much as someone says, ‘You will be right’, you’d have to be apprehensive. I’ll have nerves like him, but once he makes that first solid contact, the nerves will go.
“I’m hoping he gets it off the kick-off and he has to carry it. It’s the best way to get over all the nerves - I hope he attacks it straight away.”Despite his mental anguish in the months since the throat injury, Fifita was told he would not be entitled to a medical retirement.Had medicos agreed the knock in round 22 was enough to spell the end of his career, he could have collected the $850,000 he stands to earn at Cronulla this year, and lived a comfortable life with his wife and four young children. The payout would have been exempt from the Sharks’ salary cap.Always laughing and appearing laid-back, Fifita was self-conscious enough to cover the scar on his throat when he squeezed into the one Indigenous jersey made available during a photo shoot at Nine studios, the owners of this masthead, at the start of the week.
When the Herald asked why he was prepared to put himself through such mental torture this year, Fifita said: “I probably can’t answer that. I’d love to see myself come back from something so big like this. And this weekend I get the chance to make that dream come true. “I’ve had to learn how to wall again, run again, even chew again. It’s been a long process. I got depressed when it all happened, and I’d sit there asking, why me?
“But there were other people out there doing rehab with the trachea, people who will have holes in their throats for the rest of their lives.
“It took a lot to convince the Sharks, my teammates, my wife, everyone, that I was ready.
“In the back of my mind, my missus has one more year of uni, and I’d love to let her see that out [before retiring]. I’d also love to finish with my brother [David], and if that is here or over there [in England], we’ll see what happens. I can’t wait for Saturday
egg
Jaws
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No worries Bort
I thought an interesting part was
Fifita was told he would not be entitled to a medical retirement .Had medicos agreed the knock in round 22 was enough to spell the end of his career, he could have collected the $850,000 he stands to earn at Cronulla this year, and lived a comfortable life with his wife and four young children. The payout would have been exempt from the Sharks’ salary cap .
I'm more than happy to have him onboard this year ( love to see him closer to his best ) and farewell him properly if it's his last year here.
BUT , what do we think the Club might have done/bought with an extra $850K in 2022 ?
I thought an interesting part was
Fifita was told he would not be entitled to a medical retirement .Had medicos agreed the knock in round 22 was enough to spell the end of his career, he could have collected the $850,000 he stands to earn at Cronulla this year, and lived a comfortable life with his wife and four young children. The payout would have been exempt from the Sharks’ salary cap .
I'm more than happy to have him onboard this year ( love to see him closer to his best ) and farewell him properly if it's his last year here.
BUT , what do we think the Club might have done/bought with an extra $850K in 2022 ?
Sparkles
Jaws
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Reading Laurie's comments makes me think this could be his last hit out... Last anything really. I'm almost more concerned now that he's coming back, but if the medicos say he's healthy enough to avoid medical retirement it must be safe to play.
Stay safe big guy.
Stay safe big guy.
Western Sharkie
Jaws
Yeah that was an interesting quote!
Who are these medics?
I would have to guess that they are independent of the Sharks and likely linked to the NRL’s insurers.
So then. What would constitute for a medical retirement approval?
Nearly die 5 times??
Obviously I hope his doesn’t happen but if Fifita cops a shot in the throat and he is severely affected by it I hope he gets to sue the **** out of those medics that rejected it and send them and the insurer to the wall!
Sir Chadley
Jaws
HaroldBishop
Megalodon
Doogie Howser
Sparkles
Jaws
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Shouldn't nearly or actually die a sixth time
Sir Chadley
Jaws
Western Sharkie
Jaws
Sixth times the charm you reckon
MMsharks
Great White
that was gold, his dive too!!! (not sure if he was really tripped tho)
very passionate player