Berkeley_Eagle
Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
Manly's Matt Orford uses arthritis spray to get on field
By Josh Massoud
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24443539-5006066,00.html
IN his own words, Manly skipper Matt Orford felt "like a 60-year-old man" just a few short days ago.
Enter a 99 cents plastic bucket from Woolworths and a bottle of arthritis spray.
The humble items fell into Orford's lap when he was struggling to walk on Monday night - and they could prove to be Manly's premiership saviour.
Since injuring both ankles in Saturday night's preliminary final win over New Zealand, he spent the next 48 hours in special boots and had scans done on Monday.
Running - let alone training - was out of the question.
"I was pretty sore," Orford told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
"I hurt the right ankle during the first half and then twisted the left one later in the game.
"It was pretty weird to injure both of them in the same match.
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"I wasn't sure what was wrong, and we did some scans. I spent Sunday and Monday in the special boots. I felt like a 60-year-old man."
As time ran out before Sunday's big one against Melbourne, Orford was still in pain and his ankles considerably swollen.
It was then teammate Josh Perry revealed an old remedy former Knights teammates Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley swore by to ease their discomfort before matches.
"He put me onto this arthritis spray called Pain Away they'd been using up there for a couple of seasons," Orford revealed.
"It's pretty intense treatment because you've got to apply it five times a day but it's done the trick.
"I'm probably at the stage where I won't need a pain-killing injection before the match, and I try to avoid them anyway.
"I reckon I'll be able to stride out at training before kick-off too, which is better than not being able to do anything and then playing cold."
Manly's physio team also advised Orford to complement the spray treatment with regular 20 minute soaks in a bucket.
It was in this unique pose that The Daily Telegraph captured Orford yesterday morning in his Freshwater living room.
A strange preparation perhaps . . . but the reigning Dally M medallist doesn't care what it takes to get onto ANZ fit and ready to break his premiership drought.
"The results are coming. The pain has gone away and the inflammation is down."
Perry has been using the same treatment to help with some deep bruising to his inner thigh, while it has also emerged that Melbourne assistant Steve Kearney ordered a box of the spray midway through this week to assist the Storm's fleet of battered stars.
Melbourne began Grand Final week by declaring Orford "a target" and it's little secret their fearsome forwards Michael Crocker and Brent White will be out to harass him.
White, however, has no doubt Manly and Orford will be a much tougher side than the one they steamrolled 34-8 a year ago.
"Obviously everyone talks about losing a Grand Final to winning a Grand Final," he said.
"That's the path we went down and the one they are looking at.
"It did us the world of good last year - just being there (in 2006). The first time you're there you are so hyped up. You don't know what to expect. You lose a lot of energy with the build up.
"They will be a lot better this time around. They'll know exactly what to do and how to do it.
"I can understand that because we were probably the same in '06. The difference between '06 and '07 was heaps so we know they'll be a lot different from last year."
By Josh Massoud
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24443539-5006066,00.html
IN his own words, Manly skipper Matt Orford felt "like a 60-year-old man" just a few short days ago.
Enter a 99 cents plastic bucket from Woolworths and a bottle of arthritis spray.
The humble items fell into Orford's lap when he was struggling to walk on Monday night - and they could prove to be Manly's premiership saviour.
Since injuring both ankles in Saturday night's preliminary final win over New Zealand, he spent the next 48 hours in special boots and had scans done on Monday.
Running - let alone training - was out of the question.
"I was pretty sore," Orford told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
"I hurt the right ankle during the first half and then twisted the left one later in the game.
"It was pretty weird to injure both of them in the same match.
Related Links
"I wasn't sure what was wrong, and we did some scans. I spent Sunday and Monday in the special boots. I felt like a 60-year-old man."
As time ran out before Sunday's big one against Melbourne, Orford was still in pain and his ankles considerably swollen.
It was then teammate Josh Perry revealed an old remedy former Knights teammates Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley swore by to ease their discomfort before matches.
"He put me onto this arthritis spray called Pain Away they'd been using up there for a couple of seasons," Orford revealed.
"It's pretty intense treatment because you've got to apply it five times a day but it's done the trick.
"I'm probably at the stage where I won't need a pain-killing injection before the match, and I try to avoid them anyway.
"I reckon I'll be able to stride out at training before kick-off too, which is better than not being able to do anything and then playing cold."
Manly's physio team also advised Orford to complement the spray treatment with regular 20 minute soaks in a bucket.
It was in this unique pose that The Daily Telegraph captured Orford yesterday morning in his Freshwater living room.
A strange preparation perhaps . . . but the reigning Dally M medallist doesn't care what it takes to get onto ANZ fit and ready to break his premiership drought.
"The results are coming. The pain has gone away and the inflammation is down."
Perry has been using the same treatment to help with some deep bruising to his inner thigh, while it has also emerged that Melbourne assistant Steve Kearney ordered a box of the spray midway through this week to assist the Storm's fleet of battered stars.
Melbourne began Grand Final week by declaring Orford "a target" and it's little secret their fearsome forwards Michael Crocker and Brent White will be out to harass him.
White, however, has no doubt Manly and Orford will be a much tougher side than the one they steamrolled 34-8 a year ago.
"Obviously everyone talks about losing a Grand Final to winning a Grand Final," he said.
"That's the path we went down and the one they are looking at.
"It did us the world of good last year - just being there (in 2006). The first time you're there you are so hyped up. You don't know what to expect. You lose a lot of energy with the build up.
"They will be a lot better this time around. They'll know exactly what to do and how to do it.
"I can understand that because we were probably the same in '06. The difference between '06 and '07 was heaps so we know they'll be a lot different from last year."
