Luke Keary needs surgery that would sideline him for 12 months, but the South Sydney halfback is prepared to play through the pain for the rest of his career as he reaffirmed his desire to play for NSW.
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Keary has cartilage damage in between his first and second metatarsal in his foot, an injury he picked up playing for South Sydney in their grand final qualifying win against the Sydney Roosters last year. He needs a cortisone injection to get through most games with the only way to fully repair the injury is by undergoing surgery, which would sideline him for a season.
Keary said he was prepared to play on with discomfort for the rest of his career.
"There are a couple of surgeries they can do," Keary said. "I am trying to avoid it at all costs.
"They can do a couple of clean-ups, which will be six to eight weeks. There is a big one where they fuse it, which would be 12 months. The 12 months one is avoid at all costs. I'll have to get that done when my career is over.
"I take it day by day. Literally. Some days I'll come in and it's real sore and I can't do anything. Other days it feels fine. Some games it's fine, some games it's not."
Keary is mindful not to have a reliance on painkilling injuries to get through games. He remains a week-to-week proposition for the Rabbitohs and is in doubt for their next clash against St George Illawarra on Monday night.
"It probably hit me a month ago," Keary said. "I've been playing with pain-killing injections. We didn't think it was best to play with that every game for the rest of the year. I don't know how long it's going to take to settle down. It might take a couple of weeks, or a month. It's a weird one that not many of the docs have seen.
"I make the decision on the needles. They are not unhealthy for you but I make the decision if I can get through a game without it. I'll try and train Thursday and Friday. If I'm not getting through training I want to play with needles but I'm conscious of not over doing it and causing other injuries like stress fractures and bone bruising."
The injury ruled Keary out of making his representative debut having been named for City. Despite not playing, Keary has quashed any suggestions he wanted to backflip on his commitment to play for NSW, having been courted by Queensland.
"I was hoping and honoured that I got picked in the team," Keary said. "When the doctor and Madge [South Sydney coach Michael Maguire] said that they didn't think I should play because of my foot, it was disappointing. I felt like I let them down a little bit but your health comes first.
"I've come out and said who I'm with – NSW. I don't really like to be questioned about it any more. I've come out and said how I feel about it. That's probably the end of it for me I guess."
Keary joins a long list of injured players at the Rabbitohs. Halfback Adam Reynolds is battling to make an early return from a knee injury while former captain John Sutton is hopeful of playing for the first time since breaking his jaw in round two. Dylan Walker is also unlikely.
Sutton will meet with a doctor on Thursday to gain a clearance.
"It's feeling OK," Sutton said. "I haven't done any contact work yet. I feel good and it feels all right but the doctor pushes around there and it's a little bit tender. I have a scan and the fracture is still there and then they advise me that if I play and cop a big knock it could put me out for three months."
