Chris McQueen signs - Official

https://twitter.com/NBWT__/status/905549164162859009
 
@ said:
@ said:
We need to sign another second rower pronto!

We needed another second rower in either case but we can't go in with McQueen under a cloud, Lawrence always injured and ET as edge backrowers.
We have to get a big lock for ET to play wide on the right and another edge forward as McQueen may be a bench player with this injury. Not to mention another prop as Lawrence went to the Titans, Boyle staying at GC and Vete staying at Warriors.

Paasi?
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
We need to sign another second rower pronto!

We needed another second rower in either case but we can't go in with McQueen under a cloud, Lawrence always injured and ET as edge backrowers.
We have to get a big lock for ET to play wide on the right and another edge forward as McQueen may be a bench player with this injury. Not to mention another prop as Lawrence went to the Titans, Boyle staying at GC and Vete staying at Warriors.

Paasi?

Passi is solid. McQueen's surgery went well, Eiso and Twal are good. With Grant taking his option I reckon we are set. Packer, Mats, ET, McQueen, Twal, Eiso, Lawrence, Grant,MCK is probably enough.
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
We need to sign another second rower pronto!

We needed another second rower in either case but we can't go in with McQueen under a cloud, Lawrence always injured and ET as edge backrowers.
We have to get a big lock for ET to play wide on the right and another edge forward as McQueen may be a bench player with this injury. Not to mention another prop as Lawrence went to the Titans, Boyle staying at GC and Vete staying at Warriors.

Paasi?

Passi is solid. McQueen's surgery went well, Eiso and Twal are good. With Grant taking his option I reckon we are set. Packer, Mats, ET, McQueen, Twal, Eiso, Lawrence, Grant,MCK is probably enough.

Forgot Aloai and Sue. That's 11 forwards to cover 8 spots with three on the bench.
 
I cant shake the feeling that Chris McQueen will be our next Nick Graham.
 
Im really concerned that we have purchased two players who would be considered "damaged goods", we've done it before (Ballin and Idris) and we might have done it again in Reynolds and McQueen. Reynolds hammies and calf muscle tears are a sign that he is on his last legs .. have we payed WAY too much for him ??, and McQueen, wow he's had his C5, C6 vertebrae replaced, then had C6 and C7 fused together .. wow !!
I have my C4, C5, and C6 all fused together with a titanium plate and my neck hurts like hell especially in winter … I can hardly bend my neck forward or backwards with limited sideways movement, and this guy wants to play footy again .. !! My hats off to him if gets back on the field let alone see the season out. We have a lot of money tied up in these two players, hope we have done the right thing .. !!
 
@ said:
Im really concerned that we have purchased two players who would be considered "damaged goods", we've done it before (Ballin and Idris) and we might have done it again in Reynolds and McQueen. Reynolds hammies and calf muscle tears are a sign that he is on his last legs .. have we payed WAY too much for him ??, and McQueen, wow he's had his C5, C6 vertebrae replaced, then had C6 and C7 fused together .. wow !!
I have my C4, C5, and C6 all fused together with a titanium plate and my neck hurts like hell especially in winter … I can hardly bend my neck forward or backwards with limited sideways movement, and this guy wants to play footy again .. !! My hats off to him if gets back on the field let alone see the season out. We have a lot of money tied up in these two players, hope we have done the right thing .. !!

Geez, well when you put it like that it doesn't sound too good :confused:
And yeah, if it's true what was reported to be the amount we're paying Reynolds then I believe that's too much. Not saying he isn't good but it just feels like too much, especially considering the length of the contract.
 
I think McQueen may be a massive disappointment. Serious neck injury is much worse than soft tissue injuries after 5 months to recover
 
apparently the neck surgery he had is one that has a high rate of success and he should recover 100% from it. if fit he will be a valuable asset for us next year imo
 
"I was hopeful of that right up until the time that I signed with the Tigers, that I would stay here, but that's footy and that's the way it worked out," McQueen said.

**"I'm getting quite old now** so that three year offer from the Tigers made a big difference to the two years.

"I've absolutely loved my time up here. I am a Queenslander so I've really enjoyed being back here and the Titans fans have absolutely embraced me so I've got nothing but good words about my time on the Gold Coast."

http://www.nrl.com/mcqueen-adamant-titans-can-bounce-back/tabid/10874/newsid/112068/default.aspx

:eek:pen_mouth:
 
^ hopefully he's comments were trying soften the blow for GC fans.
He'll have to do a take two when he gets here. "I'm feeling young and fresh .always wanted to be a Tiger. Ready to rip on in and have the best preseason ever."
 
@ said:
Im really concerned that we have purchased two players who would be considered "damaged goods", we've done it before (Ballin and Idris) and we might have done it again in Reynolds and McQueen. Reynolds hammies and calf muscle tears are a sign that he is on his last legs .. have we payed WAY too much for him ??, and McQueen, wow he's had his C5, C6 vertebrae replaced, then had C6 and C7 fused together .. wow !!
I have my C4, C5, and C6 all fused together with a titanium plate and my neck hurts like hell especially in winter … I can hardly bend my neck forward or backwards with limited sideways movement, and this guy wants to play footy again .. !! My hats off to him if gets back on the field let alone see the season out. We have a lot of money tied up in these two players, hope we have done the right thing .. !!

Because Luke Brooks has never had hamstring issues?

Dunno about Reynolds, he's not young, but hamstrings can strike any age and also be recoverable. Justin Hodges forged a great career despite having tissue-thin hammies.
 
McQueen: Neck surgery saved my career
Wests Tigers recruit Chris McQueen has opened up for the first time on the delicate neck surgery that has not only prevented permanent nerve damage but he believes will enable him to overcome a crisis of confidence and get back to his best.

The former Rabbitoh and Titan was back on the Gold Coast on Tuesday to see the specialist and was given the all clear to begin training with his new Wests Tigers teammates when they begin pre-season training next Thursday.

McQueen was told that he can build into wrestling and light contact over the next month before a six-month check-up in early January where he hopes his neck will have recovered to the point where he can resume full contact and prepare for his maiden year with the Tigers.
In a raw and honest interview, McQueen spoke of the fear he was beginning to take into every tackle and the erosion of confidence in a player who represented Queensland in six State of Origin matches and earlier this year made his debut for England against Samoa.

Indeed, it was McQueen's desperation to line up for England at the World Cup that saw him continually delay having surgery until a knock he suffered whilst playing for the Titans against South Sydney in Round 15 left him with little choice.

For a month he wrestled with the decision of undergoing surgery that he knew would end his season until he came to fully appreciate the implications of what could happen if he continued to play without receiving the proper treatment.

"The main risk was getting permanent nerve damage in my neck and my arm," McQueen told NRL.com.

"Just before the surgery I was getting to the point where my left thumb was pretty much numb and then I'd get sporadic numbness from halfway down my arm right down to my thumb. That would come and go.

"It got to the point where if I didn't have the surgery soon that numbness will get worse and could be permanent.

"I've got a long life after footy so as soon as they started talking about permanent nerve damage and losing feeling in my hands and fingers permanently, that's a little bit scary.

"I've seen a lot of players have neck surgeries and come back and play their best footy again so that didn't really scare me.

"I never really thought that I'd never get to play footy again. If anything it was the opposite.

"I thought if I didn't have the surgery that it might get to the point where I won't get to play again."

Even before it was announced in mid-April that McQueen would be joining the Tigers on a three-year deal from 2018 the 2014 premiership winner was talking with the Titans team doctor and specialists about the need for surgery.

An easy decision

Due to turn 31 the day after the Tigers' Round 1 clash with the Sydney Roosters next March, McQueen estimates he has had four cortisone injections in the left side of his neck over the past five years.

It was when the right side also started causing pain after the Rabbitohs game in June that he knew the bulging discs he had been coping with for so long were only getting worse and that the mental demons of playing with neck pain weren't going to go away.

"There was the physical pain every time I got jammed up; it felt like I was getting struck by lightning," said McQueen.

"It got pretty bad by the end and it ruined my confidence. I couldn't go into a tackle and get my head in nice and tight.

"My head was always hanging out in the tackle and for that reason I started being a bit loose in defence and missing tackles.

"I had a week off after the Rabbitohs game and then I was planning to play that following week and I went to test it at training and Ryan James hit me with a pad in the head – I told him to so I could test it – and it just dropped me.

"Even when I was carrying the ball, it got to the point where I was just terrified of someone even touching my head. It would just buckle me.

"I had aspirations of playing in the World Cup this year but once I hurt that other side and both sides were starting to get affected… I couldn't make a tackle or even run the ball through pads without hurting it.

"That's when I made that decision."

Eye of the Tiger

McQueen and partner Nicole have now settled back in Sydney and the free-running back-rower is excited to be part of a Tigers recruitment drive that also yielded Josh Reynolds, Russell Packer, Ben Matulino, Benji Marshall and Taane Milne.

Although full contact will have to wait until after Christmas, a rejuvenated McQueen is ready to rip into pre-season training with his sights set on a start for his new club in what will be a blockbuster opening game of the season.

"They finished off the year pretty strongly and they've recruited quite well so it is exciting times," McQueen said of his new club.

"I should be all right to be doing proper weights and all the running stuff but it's three to four months post-surgery before I can start doing contact. Once I start I can progress as fast as I'm comfortable and as fast as I'm capable.

"I'm quite hopeful that after Christmas I'll be fully fit and it will be as if I've never had a problem."
http://m.nrl.com/mcqueen-neck-surgery-saved-my-career/tabid/10874/newsid/114125/default.aspx
 
"Even before it was announced in mid-April that McQueen would be joining the Tigers on a three-year deal from 2018 the 2014 premiership winner was talking with the Titans team doctor and specialists about the need for surgery."

So, that means it is a pre-existing injury, one which was known about (at least to McQueen) before he signed. So if it worsens, and he has to retire early, we may be forced to include his salary up till the end of 2020 in the cap.

Fingers crossed for him and us, and I hope he disclosed it to the Tigers when he signed.
 
@ said:
"Even before it was announced in mid-April that McQueen would be joining the Tigers on a three-year deal from 2018 the 2014 premiership winner was talking with the Titans team doctor and specialists about the need for surgery."

So, that means it is a pre-existing injury, one which was known about (at least to McQueen) before he signed. So if it worsens, and he has to retire early, we may be forced to include his salary up till the end of 2020 in the cap.

Fingers crossed for him and us, and I hope he disclosed it to the Tigers when he signed.

Most teams will have a medical associated with any contract. So I would suggest Wests had options in the contract if the surgery and recovery did not go well
 
@ said:
"Even before it was announced in mid-April that McQueen would be joining the Tigers on a three-year deal from 2018 the 2014 premiership winner was talking with the Titans team doctor and specialists about the need for surgery."

So, that means it is a pre-existing injury, one which was known about (at least to McQueen) before he signed. So if it worsens, and he has to retire early, we may be forced to include his salary up till the end of 2020 in the cap.

Fingers crossed for him and us, and I hope he disclosed it to the Tigers when he signed.

Sounds like he will be back to new in a couple of months…
 
@ said:
@ said:
"Even before it was announced in mid-April that McQueen would be joining the Tigers on a three-year deal from 2018 the 2014 premiership winner was talking with the Titans team doctor and specialists about the need for surgery."

So, that means it is a pre-existing injury, one which was known about (at least to McQueen) before he signed. So if it worsens, and he has to retire early, we may be forced to include his salary up till the end of 2020 in the cap.

Fingers crossed for him and us, and I hope he disclosed it to the Tigers when he signed.

Sounds like he will be back to new in a couple of months…

I hope so, gutsy bugger, wish him well, also might explain his form just before surgery
 
If as said, the original injury had been hampering him for some time, then WT may have gotten him at a good price if the surgery allows him to recapture the sort of form he is capable of.
 
@ said:
If as said, the original injury had been hampering him for some time, then WT may have gotten him at a good price if the surgery allows him to recapture the sort of form he is capable of.

Spot on it was either retire or he’s back 100%.
There is no in between on this sort of injury. I had something similar and stopped playing but it’s more mental than physical if the specialist has given the all clear they don’t muck around with this injury.
 

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