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Wing blinded by a right from clubmate Morley
By Steve Mascord in London
December 1, 2004
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Australian utility Craig Wing has told of how he was temporarily blinded in one eye when Sydney Roosters clubmate Adrian Morley struck him with "one of his typical forearm tackles".
Wing will miss the tour-ending international against the US at Philadelphia's Franklin Field after suffering three lacerations to his left eyeball during Saturday night's 44-4 win over Great Britain in the Tri-Nations final.
"He came at me, I got away from him, he got the ****s and came at me again with one of his typical forearm tackles," Wing said at Heathrow before boarding a flight for New York with his teammates. "He collected me across the nose but his thumb got caught in the corner of my eye and cut it pretty badly.
"I was gone. I came straight off the field. I couldn't see out of it because there was so much blood. There was blood in my eye but I think that came from my nose.
"There's a few deep cuts on the eyeball. I've just been in bed because it felt like I had sand in my eye and couldn't get it out. I couldn't get any relief. It's painful more than anything but ... your eye heals very quickly."
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AdvertisementMorley, who issued a public apology for Britain's dismal first-half performance at Elland Road, is accompanying the Australians to the US. It will give him the chance to treat Wing to an extended apology - in liquid form.
"I'll catch up with him in America," Wing laughed. "I saw him after the game, he came up to me, gave me a hug and said, 'Sorry, Wingy'. I said, 'Yeah, I can imagine how you feel with the scoreboard like that!'
"[The injury] stopped me participating in the celebrations over the last couple of days. That was the worst part of it."
Coach Wayne Bennett has named a 21-man squad, omitting Wing, prop Shane Webcke (knee), halfback Craig Gower (groin) and front-rower Jason Ryles, for Australia's first game in the US in half a century. Australia and New Zealand played exhibition games at Long Beach and Los Angeles in 1954.
Both sides have agreed to having unlimited numbers on the interchange bench and unlimited replacements, meaning every fit Australian may get a run.
The Americans - coached by Sydney Roosters assistant John Cartwright - have chosen to go with mostly local players, along with Parramatta winger Matt Petersen and former Canberra and Western Suburbs centre Brandon Costin forming an unlikely halves combination.
Marcus Vassilakopoulos, a former Sheffield Eagles player who also plied his trade on the Central Coast before moving to Philadelphia, is hooker. Also playing is giant Texan Ian Blake, who has signed with the Broncos for next season, while American-born Guildford player Chris Waters has also flown in.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley, in Philadelphia to help prepare for the game, has been surprised at the amount of public and media interest.
"A lot depends on the weather but if people don't come, it won't be because they're unaware that it's on," Annesley said. "We'll be disappointed if we get less than 10,000 and there's a good chance to get more. The stadium holds 52,000, so that's only 20 per cent of capacity and quite realistic."
Annesley said he had been on Philadelphia's Fox 29 several times to discuss the game and had travelled to Manhattan to be interviewed on a live Fox 5 breakfast program. He was also on a high-rating radio program for 15 minutes last week.
A local sportscaster will join Warren Smith and Laurie Daley in the commentary box on Tuesday night, with the game being shown live on Fox Sports in Australia and Fox Sports World in the US.
And the three campuses around Franklin Field - University of Pennsylvania, Drexel and Temple - have been flooded with promotional material. League officials have been lecturing and working with students at Drexel who are studying sports management.
The referee will be Robert Irwin, a former Queensland Cup whistler now living in New York. Former NRL touch judge Darren Gocher will run the line.
"The great thing is we are now able to capitalise on the game," said American National Rugby League president David Niu, a former St George halfback. "We are part of the After School Allstars program, which will give us access to kids in 15 cities, and we are adding Baltimore and Boston to our competition next year."
Philadelphia's Glen Mills Bulls have replaced the New York Knights in the curtain-raiser against the Coogee Dolphins.
Teams: US v Australia, Franklin Field, 11.45am Wednesday (Sydney time).
US: Eric Hollingsworth; Nate Smith, Chris Waters, Jeff Preston, Ric Dortone; Matt Petersen, Brandon Costin; Danny Bull, Shayne Mains, Ian Blake, Matt Astill, Marcus Vassilakopoulos, Ed Woodbridge. Res: Ryan Coleman, Gareth Gibbs, Will Brazier, Christin Rahui, Joe Becker, Ben Kelly, JC Rocha, Kevin Deal, Roger Tuamoheloa.
Australia (from): Anthony Minichiello, Matt Sing, Shaun Berrigan, Willie Tonga, Luke Rooney, Darren Lockyer (c), Brett Kimmorley, Tonie Carroll, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan, Petero Civoniceva, Danny Buderus, Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley, Craig Fitzgibbon, Matt Bowen, Scott Hill, Ben Kennedy, Shaun Timmins, Brent Tate, Matt Cooper.
By Steve Mascord in London
December 1, 2004
Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Australian utility Craig Wing has told of how he was temporarily blinded in one eye when Sydney Roosters clubmate Adrian Morley struck him with "one of his typical forearm tackles".
Wing will miss the tour-ending international against the US at Philadelphia's Franklin Field after suffering three lacerations to his left eyeball during Saturday night's 44-4 win over Great Britain in the Tri-Nations final.
"He came at me, I got away from him, he got the ****s and came at me again with one of his typical forearm tackles," Wing said at Heathrow before boarding a flight for New York with his teammates. "He collected me across the nose but his thumb got caught in the corner of my eye and cut it pretty badly.
"I was gone. I came straight off the field. I couldn't see out of it because there was so much blood. There was blood in my eye but I think that came from my nose.
"There's a few deep cuts on the eyeball. I've just been in bed because it felt like I had sand in my eye and couldn't get it out. I couldn't get any relief. It's painful more than anything but ... your eye heals very quickly."
Advertisement
AdvertisementMorley, who issued a public apology for Britain's dismal first-half performance at Elland Road, is accompanying the Australians to the US. It will give him the chance to treat Wing to an extended apology - in liquid form.
"I'll catch up with him in America," Wing laughed. "I saw him after the game, he came up to me, gave me a hug and said, 'Sorry, Wingy'. I said, 'Yeah, I can imagine how you feel with the scoreboard like that!'
"[The injury] stopped me participating in the celebrations over the last couple of days. That was the worst part of it."
Coach Wayne Bennett has named a 21-man squad, omitting Wing, prop Shane Webcke (knee), halfback Craig Gower (groin) and front-rower Jason Ryles, for Australia's first game in the US in half a century. Australia and New Zealand played exhibition games at Long Beach and Los Angeles in 1954.
Both sides have agreed to having unlimited numbers on the interchange bench and unlimited replacements, meaning every fit Australian may get a run.
The Americans - coached by Sydney Roosters assistant John Cartwright - have chosen to go with mostly local players, along with Parramatta winger Matt Petersen and former Canberra and Western Suburbs centre Brandon Costin forming an unlikely halves combination.
Marcus Vassilakopoulos, a former Sheffield Eagles player who also plied his trade on the Central Coast before moving to Philadelphia, is hooker. Also playing is giant Texan Ian Blake, who has signed with the Broncos for next season, while American-born Guildford player Chris Waters has also flown in.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley, in Philadelphia to help prepare for the game, has been surprised at the amount of public and media interest.
"A lot depends on the weather but if people don't come, it won't be because they're unaware that it's on," Annesley said. "We'll be disappointed if we get less than 10,000 and there's a good chance to get more. The stadium holds 52,000, so that's only 20 per cent of capacity and quite realistic."
Annesley said he had been on Philadelphia's Fox 29 several times to discuss the game and had travelled to Manhattan to be interviewed on a live Fox 5 breakfast program. He was also on a high-rating radio program for 15 minutes last week.
A local sportscaster will join Warren Smith and Laurie Daley in the commentary box on Tuesday night, with the game being shown live on Fox Sports in Australia and Fox Sports World in the US.
And the three campuses around Franklin Field - University of Pennsylvania, Drexel and Temple - have been flooded with promotional material. League officials have been lecturing and working with students at Drexel who are studying sports management.
The referee will be Robert Irwin, a former Queensland Cup whistler now living in New York. Former NRL touch judge Darren Gocher will run the line.
"The great thing is we are now able to capitalise on the game," said American National Rugby League president David Niu, a former St George halfback. "We are part of the After School Allstars program, which will give us access to kids in 15 cities, and we are adding Baltimore and Boston to our competition next year."
Philadelphia's Glen Mills Bulls have replaced the New York Knights in the curtain-raiser against the Coogee Dolphins.
Teams: US v Australia, Franklin Field, 11.45am Wednesday (Sydney time).
US: Eric Hollingsworth; Nate Smith, Chris Waters, Jeff Preston, Ric Dortone; Matt Petersen, Brandon Costin; Danny Bull, Shayne Mains, Ian Blake, Matt Astill, Marcus Vassilakopoulos, Ed Woodbridge. Res: Ryan Coleman, Gareth Gibbs, Will Brazier, Christin Rahui, Joe Becker, Ben Kelly, JC Rocha, Kevin Deal, Roger Tuamoheloa.
Australia (from): Anthony Minichiello, Matt Sing, Shaun Berrigan, Willie Tonga, Luke Rooney, Darren Lockyer (c), Brett Kimmorley, Tonie Carroll, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan, Petero Civoniceva, Danny Buderus, Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley, Craig Fitzgibbon, Matt Bowen, Scott Hill, Ben Kennedy, Shaun Timmins, Brent Tate, Matt Cooper.
