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Thread: Western Force's Ian Prior plays on with broken nose, fractured cheek against ACT Brum

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    Western Force's Ian Prior plays on with broken nose, fractured cheek against ACT Brum

    Western Force's Ian Prior plays on with broken nose, fractured cheek against ACT Brumbies
    Date
    July 12, 2014


    Chris Dutton
    Sports Reporter at The Canberra Times
    V



    Ian Prior was aiming for a triumphant return against his former teammates.


    He had a broken nose, three fractures in his cheekbone and risked a ''collapsed face'', but Western Force halfback Ian Prior refused to shirk his responsibilities against the ACT Brumbies on Friday night.


    For almost 40 minutes Prior continued to put his head where it shouldn't have been to make tackles in an attempt to save the Force's finals dream. And while his team was bundled out of the competition, it will go down as one of the most courageous performances in Super Rugby history.


    A battered Prior walked out of Canberra Stadium wearing an eye patch and knowing he would be unable to fly to Perth with his teammates.


    Prior copped Toomua's knee in the face. Aware that all was not good, he decided to play on and continue to stick his head in dark places to tackle rampaging Brumbies players. <i>Artwork: Marco Mana</i>
    Prior copped Toomua's knee in the face. Aware that all was not good, he decided to play on and continue to stick his head in dark places to tackle rampaging Brumbies players. Artwork: Marco Mana
    It was hardly an ideal Canberra homecoming for the former Brumbies No. 9, but the only thing Prior was heartbroken about was the Force falling short of the play-offs.


    The Force copped a seven-try hammering and Prior is now crashing on Brumbies fullback Jesse Mogg's couch until he's given the all-clear by medical staff to fly to Brisbane for surgery.


    Add the fact that he broke his nose just a week earlier against the Queensland Reds and Prior's effort epitomises toughness.


    ''I knew I'd done something ... it didn't feel right. I blew my nose and a pocket of air under my eye started to fill up,'' he said.


    ''I knew where I was; it really hurt, but I wasn't disorientated. I just wanted to help the team get to the finals ... I battled as long as I could.


    ''I didn't want to go off, but the doc said it wasn't very safe. He said if I copped another knock, my whole face could collapse.''


    Prior was aiming for a triumphant return against his former teammate. But it quickly turned to disaster when he tried to make a tackle on flying Brumbies playmaker Matt Toomua just five minutes into the match.


    Prior copped Toomua's knee in the face. Aware that all was not good, he decided to play on and continue to stick his head in dark places to tackle rampaging Brumbies players.


    ''What can you do? I wanted the Force to do well so I thought I'd power on as much as I could,'' Prior said.


    ''I can't blow my nose, I have to try not to sneeze, and I can't fly for a few days, and then I'll have surgery next week sometime.''


    Prior's former Canberra roommate, Mogg, has offered a bed while the 23-year-old is stuck in Canberra.


    Force coach Michael Foley said: ''Ian broke his cheekbone in the first half ... he's not the most handsome No. 9 running around at the moment.


    ''But not once did he miss a tackle.''


    Prior, who won a championship with the Queensland Reds in 2011 and played for the Brumbies in the grand final last year, hopes the Force can use this season – the best in the club's history – as a stepping stone to the finals in the future.


    ''The Brumbies played well, we were probably a bit inexperienced in that pressure,'' Prior said. ''While it's disappointing, we can look at this as a stepping stone. Where the Force were 18 months ago, I don't think they would have thought this was possible.''






    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...#ixzz37RYCW7VS

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    That's a HUGE effort. Don't think any of us are aware of how banged up these guys are.
    Next level toughness.
    Only 23!! That's excellent news. He plays a very smooth 9.

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    Senior Player Macattack's Avatar
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    Thanks for the gutsy effort Ian, you're a good man.

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    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    Agreed. He posted on TW this morning that he's had his op and all went well :-)

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    Immortal Contributor The InnFORCEr's Avatar
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    He's aaard!

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    80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?

    Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!

    Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!

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    Senior Player Timbo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The InnFORCEr View Post
    He's aaard!
    A back who'd aaard? Can't wait for Rex's riposte!

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    'God invented beer to prevent Props from taking over the world'



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    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timbo View Post
    A back who'd aaard? Can't wait for Rex's riposte!
    He's only half a back.

    The other half is Aaard as phuq

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    C'mon the

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    Geez

    Imagine trying to blow your schnoz and your mucus comes out of your eye - yuk.

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  9. #9
    Senior Player Macattack's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GIGS20 View Post
    He's only half a back.

    The other half is Aaard as phuq
    Agreed, half backs are often honorary forwards because they are usually obnoxious little bastards who enjoy a good blue

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  10. #10
    Senior Player Timbo's Avatar
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    OK - I think I am starting to understand .....

    So, forwards are obnoxious BIG bastards who like a blue; therefore half backs are hobbit forwards!!!

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    (Previously WFDS) WFDom's Avatar
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    Not trying to be a dick or anything & have nothing against the bloke, but.....

    It sounds like he was putting his own desire to perform well against his old team ahead of what MAY have been the best course of action for his current team.

    I know it sounds like he's a hard nut staying on.... but with that amount of pain there is no way he could have been fully concentrating 100% on what was was needed from him for us to go and get the win.

    There's another reason Alby should have been on earlier

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    Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!

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    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WFDom View Post
    I know it sounds like he's a hard nut staying on.... but with that amount of pain there is no way he could have been fully concentrating 100% on what was was needed from him for us to go and get the win.

    There's another reason Alby should have been on earlier
    Isn't that the coaches' decision? Plus, I didn't notice any discernible drop in performance...... Things DID look a whole lot more effective with Alby on, and for that reason, I think you're right that Alby was needed sooner, but maybe that decision was more about where Alby was in his rehab limiting the amount of time he could be risked.

    Overall, I think Foles has done an awesome job making the tough calls and keeping the bigger picture in mind, so I'm prepared to accept that there was other stuff involved in the decision that we don't know about. Props to prior for playing on until the coach hooked him.

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    C'mon the

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    Veteran zimeric's Avatar
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    I think it had nothing to do with Alby and more to do with game plan. There was a clear and visible shift in attitude by ALL the players from the get go in the second half. Attacking the line running onto the ball, offloading in the tackle, less kicking, more sniping around the edges of rucks.
    The one thing I felt let us down in both halves was that there didnt appear to be the 'TRUST' i have seen in cover defence in the mid-season games. Particularly by Badger (and for good reason) the guys were not manning up properly leaving the outside backs covering two sometimes three players and having to come in to guard their inside mens oppsing players leaving gaps out wide. We can punish the Badge for his poor tackling (and it was poor) but to be fair he was attempting most of them from angles of weakness anyway.. Something changed in the last three weeks in regards to trusting your inside man, maybe it has to do with the injuries to key players and the shuffling around thay had to do... not sure.

    Certainly cant say that it was just Alby that made the difference in the second half.

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