‘I'm not even near retiring': Radley bullish on playing future despite head knocks
'Your brain is like a muscle, and you need to make sure you're working it and building that tolerance, so I don't get a little knock and it gives me a daze.
'There are games you play where you follow a ball, and you have to remember where they move. There is also VOMS training, which I do around training.
'I've been advised to do [the exercises] morning and night. The biggest thing I've learned after seeing all the specialists is to keep working your brain.'
Radley has started wearing headgear in recent weeks, which does little to prevent concussions but 'at this point, any little thing that might help, I'll do it'.
The 27-year-old wants to help the Roosters make a charge for the finals before getting the call-up to play for England in the Ashes.
'I'd love to go over there and play against Australia – it's something I've earmarked since [the Ashes] was announced,' Radley said.
'For now, I'm just thinking about the Roosters, being fit, playing my best footy, and hopefully that takes care of itself and [England coach] Shaun [Wane] picks me.'
Loading
The shoulder injury he aggravated against Cronulla last weekend has been an ongoing issue, but there will be no need for surgery, nor painkillers. He took no part in Monday's main training session and will benefit from the extra time off against the Storm at Allianz Stadium.
Melbourne will be without Nelson Asofa-Solomona due to suspension, while Cameron Munster will skip the game to attend his father's funeral in Rockhampton on Friday.
'It's been an ongoing issue I've had for years, but I copped a knock the other night when I was running the ball. I got hit hard, and re-aggravated it,' Radley said.
'I normally strap my shoulders tightly, I've been really conscious of my right one this year. This [injury] is my left. I'll run the same strapping program on the left.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Rabbitohs' ‘$2 million mistake' exposes the NRL club's major recruitment issue
The Rabbitohs' signing of Lewis Dodd has been labelled a '$2 million mistake' as he prepares to start at halfback for the first time in the NRL. Dodd was named in the No. 7 jersey for South Sydney's clash with the Sharks on Saturday night. In his four previous NRL games this season, Dodd came off the bench in three games and started at five-eighth in the other. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. Even with his hefty $650,000 salary, Dodd has been regularly overlooked for selection by coach Wayne Bennett, even amid an injury crisis at the club in 2025. NRL 360 co-host Dan Ginnane wondered whether Dodd had been signed by the Rabbitohs solely because he kicked the match-winning field goal for St Helens in the World Club Challenge back in 2023, when they prevailed 13-12 over Penrith. The 23-year-old Dodd is contracted with the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2027 season on a three-year deal. 'Is there a chance that Souths pushed the button when he kicked that field goal in the World Club Challenge, which is really, let's be honest, in our part of the world, it's a glorified exhibition game?' Ginnane asked. 'He kicks a field goal, they win 13-12, is that a $2 million field goal that he kicked?' Panellist Andrew Webster agreed the Dodd signing was a mysterious one. 'It is one of the more bizarre recruitments, really,' Webster added. 'I've heard from people both in the UK and other recruiters here in the NRL that they were surprised that Souths signed him and threw that amount of money at him. 'Look, it's a $2 million mistake. 'I've heard of other Super League clubs being interested in getting him but they want to be offering some pretty heavy coin for Lewis Dodd to want to move away from the $700,000 a year contract he's on.' Host Braith Anasta said the Rabbitohs' recruitment has left a lot to be desired. 'I really think they've got to change a lot about their recruitment, Souths,' Anasta said. 'I think they've got to take a different direction, moving forward. I say this because, you look at their NSW Cup team, they're coming last, their Jersey Flegg second last, their junior competition is nowhere near where it used to be.' Webster believes South Sydney need to add to their stocks in the forwards. 'They need some middle forwards. That's what they've been missing all year. Through injury and form, they haven't had that at all this year, and where they are on the ladder reflects it,' Webster added. Ginnane pointed out that Latrell Mitchell has missed a lot of games for the Rabbitohs since joining the club. 'Latrell plays 14 games a year. It's fact. He's played 85 games in six years at Souths, so he's going to miss 10 games,' Ginnane added. The Rabbitohs are currently missing a staggering number of players, worth over $6 million, in an injury crisis. Mitchell ($1.1 million), Cameron Murray ($1 million), Keaon Koloamatangi ($650,000), Campbell Graham ($650,000), Cody Walker ($600,000), Brandon Smith ($550,000), Davvy Moale ($500,000), Peter Mamouzelos ($300,000), Jamie Humphreys ($250,000), Jayden Sullivan ($200,000), Mikaele Ravalawa ($165,000) and Bayleigh Bentley-Hape ($120,000) are all currently sidelined.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Bozhidar Kraev scores double as Western Sydney Wanderers progress to Australia Cup round of 16 with win over Peninsula Power
Bulgarian international Bozhidar Kraev scored twice as Western Sydney Wanderers cruised into the Australia Cup round of 16 with a 3-0 win over NPL Queensland club Peninsula Power on Tuesday night. New Wanderers signing, veteran New Zealand international attacker Kosta Barbarouses, also found the back of the net at AJ Kelly Park as Peninsula's attempt to disrupt the visitors by narrowing the pitch proved to be fruitless. Kraev scored twice in the opening 23 minutes, with Barbarouses' goal nine minutes later putting the game to bed. It could have been worse for the Power, but goalkeeper Jordan Thurtell saved a 59th-minute penalty to deny Kraev a hat-trick. 'It was how we planned it, how we expected it and how we wished things to go,' Kraev told Paramount Plus in reflecting on his side's overall performance. The Wanderers starting side also included another of the club's off-season acquisitions in former Central Coast Mariners striker Alou Kuol, while ex-Melbourne City midfielder Steven Ugarkovic, who also recently signed with Western Sydney, was a second-half substitute. Joining the Wanderers in the round of 16 with wins on Tuesday night were Victorian clubs Avondale and Nunawading City. Avondale thrashed West Australian outfit Stirling Macedonia 5-1, while fourth-tier club Nunawading set a record Australia Cup scoreline with a 9-0 thumping of Darwin Olympic.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Are England too nice? They think so – and this is how they're changing it
England Harry Brook has revealed the dressing room conversations that led the Ashes combatants to take up premeditated, tactical sledging against India, as Ben Stokes' team gears up for the trip to Australia this summer. And pace bowler Brydon Carse has explicitly linked this abrasive approach to how England want to battle Australia for the Ashes here, where England have not won a Test match since 2011, the last time they retained the urn away from home. After a spiteful Lord's Test where players on both sides lost their cool on several occasions, Brook said that coach Brendon McCullum – who has employed his friend and former New Zealand psychologist Gilbert Enoka to help motivate the England players – told the team before the game that they were 'too nice' to opponents. When Indian captain Shubman Gill harried the England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett as they tried to avoid another over being bowled on the third evening, Brook used the episode as a pretext to initiate a sledging barrage for the remainder of the match, which England went on to win narrowly. ''Baz' actually said a few days before the Test that we are too nice sometimes and I brought it up the night before the last day – I said, 'I think tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them,'' Brook said before the fourth Test in Manchester. England lead India 2-1 with two Tests to play. 'We had a little conversation the night before, where everybody saw them guys get stuck into 'Creeps' and 'Ducky' [Crawley and Duckett] and we just thought, 'We're not having that'. We all piled into them. Loading 'I've had a lot of compliments. Everybody says it was awesome to watch and it looked like there was 11 versus two out there when we were fielding and it was good fun. It made fielding a lot more enjoyable.' Carse, who bowled a fiery spell to set England on the path to winning at Lord's while defending a small fourth innings target, said that expectations of a difficult Ashes assignment had the players thinking about making sure they were similarly aggressive in Australia.
