Brent’s tearful exit from the Four Nations final broke the hearts of league fans everywhere. But, yet again, this brave Maroon is digging deep to fight back.
Australian Rugby League team manager Gavin “Jed” Allen says his close-up view of Brent Tate’s heartbreaking torment at another serious injury is one of the toughest things he has ever had to witness a footy player go through.
Jed was one of the Kangaroos staff and players on hand to offer their support to an inconsolable Tate after the injury-cursed Test centre learned he would need his third knee reconstruction in as many years after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament in the first half of the Four Nations final at Suncorp Stadium in November.
Tate, whose stellar career has been hindered by a string of potentially career-ending injuries, was struck down again against the Kiwis, throwing his playing future into doubt.
Television viewers around the world were given an amazing look into the private world of professional footballers, as Tate was captured on a dressingroom camera sobbing uncontrollably on the shoulder of veteran Kangaroos trainer Brian Hider.
Allen was nearby lending his support, and said Tate’s anguish was almost unbearable to witness.
“It was terrible. I have never seen a player that distraught through an injury,” Jed said.
“It wasn’t through the pain of the injury, it was the pain of knowing what lies ahead.
“Tatey has had two reconstructions now, so he knows the amount of work and anguish that is involved in getting back on the paddock.
“This is his third one in three years, so just coming to terms with that mentally and emotionally must be a very tough thing.
“But no one works harder than Tatey, you know? He gives 100 per cent every time he plays, every time he trains, every time he prepares himself. And he is a great bloke on top of all of that too.”
Jed, one of the hardest players of his generation and a foundation stone of the 1995 series-winning pack, said he was in awe of Tate’s toughness in playing on with the injury.
“To have that injury early in the first half and to play on until halftime with it, well that just shows you how tough he is and how he will never let his teammates down,” he said.
“You know, you think back over the years to the number of blokes we have seen writhing around on the ground in agony after doing an ACL, and you get an idea of what a seriously painful injury that is.
“But Tatey stayed out there and played through the rest of the half with his mates, even though he must have been in a huge amount of pain, and probably even more mental distress knowing within himself that the knee had gone. It was exceptional.
“I think what we saw in the dressingroom was just the release valve going for him.
“The physical pain he would have been in would have been nothing compared to the mental distress. He knows how hard you have to work to get back.
“He knows it is going to be pretty much a year of hard work just to get back to where he was. His reaction was understandable, and I think everyone that saw it was just as devastated for him.”
FOGS Executive Chairman Gene Miles said everyone in the game would be cheering for Tate, who has confirmed he will mount another comeback to turn out for his new club, the Cowboys, in 2011.
“You look at all the things Tatey has been through over the past few years, the adversity that he has been through, and you realise just what a special player and bloke he is,” Geno said.
“There have probably been a few occasions where he has been entitled to throw the towel in, but he just picks himself up and keeps on going.
“Not only that, but given all the injuries he has already been through, it’s pretty amazing to think he was probably playing the best football of his career in the months leading up to the Four Nations final.
“I can tell you for a fact that, had he not broken his jaw, he would have been playing for Queensland in this year’s Origin series. And the fact he came back from that setback to play for Australia, well I think that sums up his commitment and dedication perfectly.”