Jonathon Mannah
Parramatta Advertiser
Healthy brother is Mannah from heavenParramatta AdvertiserJohnny is also a
rugby league prop and plays for
Cronulla. The brothers squared off against each other earlier in the season in the
NRL.
...
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Healthy brother is Mannah from heaven
30 Sep 09 @ 10:49am
by Steven Deare
MOST Eels players will use their ticket allocation to Sunday’s big game to ensure their nearest and dearest are at the ground, watching them play the biggest game of their career.
Few of those guests’ presence might be as poignant as one invited by prop Tim Mannah.
Mannah hopes to have his brother Johnny, 19, in the stands. He might seem a standard family inclusion, except that he was diagnosed with lymphoma only five weeks ago.
Johnny is still undergoing regular chemotherapy and isn’t even guaranteed to be there.
``He gets treated on Thursday, they say,’’ Mannah said.
``We’re just hoping he pulls up all right and feeling good enough to come out.
``He usually pulls up a bit dusty for three or fours days after that so hopefully he is going to come out.’’
Johnny is also a rugby league prop and plays for Cronulla. The brothers squared off against each other earlier in the season in the NRL.
Yet that was put on hold for Johnny once he suffered a back injury. He visited the doctor and a scan also found a warning sign of lymphoma, and the diagnosis was made.
Mannah, 21, said it was a scary time for his family.
``Everyone gets scared of cancer, the `c’ word. It was a tough time,’’ he said.
``But his reaction made it so much better for everyone else to deal with it.
``He dealt with it really positively. And that’s probably been the reason why everyone else has coped so well.’’
The younger Mannah isn’t in the clear yet. He is scheduled to have six treatments fortnightly before the end of the year.
The elder Mannah is hoping for the best.
``Hopefully by then he’s back on track and ready to go back to training,’’ he said.
``He’ll be in remission obviously but he’ll be fine.’’
It is a struggle greater than their league careers.
The two share a close interest in each other’s football, which will make the Eels grand final even more special if Johnny can be there.
``I let him know I scored a try,’’ Mannah said.
``He’s been teasing me about not scoring so I scored one on the weekend which was good.
``But we’re really close and he’s been wishing me the best for the last few weeks and come Sunday he’s going to be hoping we get a win.
``It’s definitely the most important game either of us have played. So it’s definitely exciting and a buzz for both of us.’’