- 28 Apr 2015
- Manly Daily
- Jon Geddes
Sea Eagles win comes at the cost of Buhrer
INJURY SIDELINES FORWARD FOR THE SEASON
His cruciate has gone so he is out for the rest of the year – Manly coach Geoff Toovey
THE worst fears of the Sea Eagles came to fruition yesterday with news that their quiet achiever forward Jamie Buhrer will miss the rest of the season.
He came from the field in Saturday’s spirited 12-10 win over the Storm in Melbourne on Saturday night and by the concerned look on his face, it was never going to be positive news.
“It’s no good. His cruciate (ligament) has gone so he is out for the rest of the year,” Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey said yesterday.
It is an even crueller blow for Buhrer, who had just returned from another knee operation after being injured during Manly’s 26-25 win over Penrith in round 25 last season.
“He was just coming back and was having a great game to that point against the Storm. I thought he was outstanding,” Toovey said.
“It takes a little while to get back from a knee reconstruction and he was just starting to find his feet and was doing a lot of work around the middle for us.
“He is going to be sorely missed, for sure.”
So while winger Jorge Taufua made a welcome return from injury against the Storm, Buhrer now takes his spot on the Sea Eagles’ devastating casualty list.
Saturday’s much-needed win was built on the back of a much more consistent defensive effort.
And the leadership shown by stand-in captain, fullback Brett Stewart, also played a big part in the win.
He helped rally the troops in the sheds during the halftime break.
“We made a few errors in the first half and we knew if we addressed that in the second half we were going to challenge them,” Stewart said.
“That’s what we did. We fixed up the errors and (completing) 18 from 20 (sets) was pretty good in those conditions, I think.
“I was very proud to lead them around … it’s been hard the last couple of weeks on the sideline.”
He said the older players took a bit more leadership on Saturday night.
“We just need to back it up every week. The good teams do that so if we can do that we are heading in the right direction,” Stewart said.