| Ryan Cross |
| Coach gives Cross a leg-up Sydney Roosters centre Ryan Cross has taken heart in his coach's comeback from a horrific injury, as he continues a frustratingly slow rehabilitation from a broken leg. It has been 8 long months since Cross snapped his leg against Melbourne in a round 10 fixture at Colonial Staium. Originally, he was going to be out for 10 weeks. Then his comeback was delayed until just before the finals. Then it was during the finals. In the end he never came back and even now is unable to run flat-out. To top it all off, he could do nothing but watch as Jamie Lyon and Mark Gasnier jumped him in the pecking order of young centres, when they earned selection on the Kangaroo Tour. The 23-year-old has needed all the encouragement he can get and he has found it in the form of new Roosters coach Ricky Stuart. "Ricky's been really good for me because he broke his leg during his career (1993) as well" Cross said. "He understands what i'm going through and has been bringing me along slowly. The year after Ricky broke his leg he had one of the better years of his career, so there's no reason why I can't do that as well." "I've just got to be patient - that's the main word." "I know it's going to take a while to get over my injury and get back to where I was." Stuart's injury on the eve of the '93 finals, a sickening compund fracture of the lower leg, devastated the Canberra Raiders. After sailing comfortably all season, they failed to win a game in his absence and crashed out of the finals without a whimper. While the loss of Cross did not create the same shockwaves at Bondi Junction, the Roosters were definitely down on potency without him. During his slow recovery Cross has also found inspiration and encouragement from his older brother Clay, whom he still shares a bedroom with at the family's Clovelly home. A national shot-put champion, Clay quit the sport a shattered man when he failed to qualify for the Olympic Games last year. But after spending 14 months reassessing his future, he is back in training with another dream - winning a medal at next year's Commonwealth Games. article provided by the Daily Telegraph |