Dylan Brown will avoid surgery on his injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), in a massive boost to incoming coach Jason Ryles’ first season in charge at Parramatta.
Brown underwent knee scans on Saturday morning, amid fears he had suffered a ruptured ACL in Friday night’s “Spoon Bowl” win over Wests Tigers.
Those scans confirmed that Brown had suffered an injury to his ACL, but the damage was not as bad as first thought.
It means Brown does not require surgery, which traditionally rules players out for close to nine months.
“The medical team are currently working through what a rehab plan will look like,” the Eels said in a statement.
It is, however, unlikely that Brown will be able to play for New Zealand in the end-of-year Pacific Championships.
Any long-term injury for Brown would have been a massive setback for both Ryles and the Eels, given it could have ruled him out for close to half of next season.
Parramatta have already endured a topsy-turvy season in the halves this year, with Mitch Moses only managing eight games as the club crashed to 15th on the ladder.
Interim coach Trent Barrett also revealed that captain Clint Gutherson had played through the end of the season with three broken ribs and a torn quad.
“No way (I wasn’t going to play out the season),” Gutherson said.
“Just because of the team, the club and Baz. I spoke to the boys about how this year has gone south pretty quick.
“We would have loved to be winning and have (axed coach) Brad (Arthur here), but it didn’t go that way.
“The way Baz and the staff have kept us together, I think it showed in a lot of our performances. You want to play, you don’t want to let your team down.”
After a woeful year, the Eels have at least shown fight in the past month after taking it to Penrith and then beating St George Illawarra and the Tigers.
“It was more just about playing with the team we’ve got,” Gutherson said after the 60-26 win over Benji Marshall’s men.
“We’re losing a lot of players. It’s a bit of a turnover year for us.
“Just to be able to play with people like Reg (Campbell-Gillard), Blaize (Talagi) … he’s a great young kid moving on.
“You like to do a role for this team still, and that’s why I played.”