One lucky break for Newman
22 June 2007 Herald-Sun
Scott Gullan
PART of Chris Newman's role as the lesser known third member of the "Broken Leg Brothers" is to constantly remind the football world that he is the lucky one.
While his Richmond teammate Nathan Brown and St Kilda's Matt Maguire have very publicly battled problem after problem with their leg fractures, Newman has quietly slipped back into active duty.
Newman, who snapped his left leg against Collingwood in Round 13 last year, has not missed a game in 2007.
By contrast, Brown has waged a two-year battle with complications while Maguire, who snapped his leg in Round 18, did play in Round 1 but hasn't been seen since.
"Mine was a clean break so I knew that I wasn't going to have the problems the others have had in the past," Newman said. "There was no ligament damage, it was just very clean.
"Browny was a bit flat that I came back so early and made him look bad. He wanted me to let everyone know that his break was a lot worse than mine."
Newman has spoken to Maguire several times.
"I think his (Maguire's) was a similar break to mine, but he had different circumstances with his compartment syndrome and stuff like that," Newman said.
"We speak to each other for updates and wishing each other luck and yeah, I suppose, we're a bit like the broken leg brothers. It has been really good to have those blokes to talk to and compare notes."
Newman's return caught everyone off guard, including his family, who weren't expecting to have to fly to Perth in Round 11 to celebrate his 100th game.
"I looked at the fixture at the start of the year and I didn't really expect to get there by Round 11," he said.
"I was just focusing on playing Round 1 and then everything was going to depend on how my legs felt and kept pulling up."
The broken leg was the first major injury of his career and threw him out of whack on several fronts.
Newman shared a double-storey apartment with teammate Brent Hartigan but, in a freak twist, Hartigan broke his ankle playing in the VFL on the same weekend.
This meant the apartment became a no-go zone, with Newman heading to his parents' home in Narre Warren.
"It was the first major injury I have had so it was sort of hard to deal with at first," Newman said.
"I basically went back and lived with my mum and dad again. It was like a holiday being there because mum was superb looking after me. In the end I didn't really want to leave."
In typical Newman fashion he put his head down and went about getting his leg - which now has a rod in it - back to working order.
"I got re-acquainted with the swimming pool and the conditioning staff and I was training by Christmas, which really surprised me a little bit," he said.
The injury couldn't have come at a worse time for the defender, whose career was starting to take off after playing every game in 2005 and representing Australia in the International Rules Series against Ireland.
"He came of age to a degree when, as a club, we recommended he play in the international rules game a couple of years ago at Telstra Dome," Tigers football manager Paul Armstrong said.
"I don't think Sheeds and a few of the coaches knew who Chris Newman was, but he really made an impression on them there."
Armstrong said the 25-year-old was one of the key leaders at Punt Rd.
"He is a very strong-principled sort of guy," Armstrong said. "Inside a club you get to know who the influential key people are and he is one of them.
"He is used as an example to the younger boys on how to go about things, how to train and how to play."
Newman thinks he is just starting to get back to the right level.
"I was blowing up early on and I needed the conditioning," Newman said. "I don't feel like I have lost too much speed or anything like that. It's just about getting that continuity into my leg and my conditioning."
He figures the Tigers are ready to turn a horror season around and the presence of his BLB mate in Brown against Melbourne at the MCG tonight could do the trick.
"He's obviously been frustrated but I am sure he will come back with a bang," Newman said.
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