NSW coach Brad Fittler has lauded an act of mateship from Josh Addo-Carr towards injured Blues teammate Blake Ferguson.
Eels winger Ferguson went down with a painful knee injury during his team's qualifying final loss to the Storm on Saturday.
Melbourne flyer Addo-Carr stayed with Ferguson as he lay on the ground getting medical treatment, a touching moment of solidarity with his Origin teammate despite being his opponent on this occasion.
Fittler said that the moment was everything he could have hoped for as Blues coach, saying it "warmed my heart".
"My good friend Blake Ferguson went down with a knee injury, which is tragic for the Eels," Fittler said on The Sunday Footy Show.
"But to sit there and watch Josh Addo-Carr hang with Fergo, just nurse him ... as a coach, that's what you try to do. You try to build bonds that sometimes last, that are bigger than club footy and footy in general.
"It looks like these two boys have done that.
"Both of them had superb games. I thought Josh Addo-Carr was incredible, there's some scenes of him in full flight which, it's just amazing to watch some of our athletes at the moment."
Addo-Carr and Ferguson were the NSW wingers last season as the Blues claimed a second consecutive Origin series victory. Both are proud Indigenous men.
Addo-Carr's gesture came in a high-stakes environment, with his team's win putting Melbourne into the preliminary finals; one match away from the grand final.
The Eels are holding out hope that Ferguson may be fit for their sudden-death final next weekend, against the winner of Sunday's match between the Rabbitohs and Knights.
Unfortunately, fellow Parramatta winger Maika Sivo is gone for the season after injuring his MCL in the loss to Melbourne.
from WWOS https://ift.tt/3cXBkDs
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment