Comeback king makes a welcome return

David Krause

IT WAS like the television series Survivor in the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League catch-up match between Marist Brothers and the Grafton Rhinos at Oakes Oval, Lismore, on Wednesday night.

Literally, it was a case of last man standing for the Brethren, who cop-ped a 50-6 hiding from the Rhinos.

Marist Brothers played the last 12 minutes with just 12 fit players and things got so bad that coach David Krause had to pull on a jumper.

Krause, 39, turned back the clock with his cameo appearance, but insists that he’s not making a full-time comeback.

“It’s definitely not a big comeback and I don’t want to make a big fanfare out of it in the paper,” Krause said.

“I just wanted to help out the boys, and if I thought for one moment that I couldn’t contribute, then I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Krause, who also took the field against Murwillumbah last week, said he had planned to come off the bench against the Rhinos but, because of injuries, ended up playing 65 minutes.

“I haven’t played since 2006, but it is just something I thought I had to do to help the guys,” he said.

“I don’t think I feel out of place, I just wish that I’d done a bit more pre-  season training and kept up with the guys. But it doesn’t worry me, the mental side of things.”

Considering his team’s injury toll, Krause is more concerned about putting a team on the paddock for the game against the Tweed Coast Raiders tomorrow than the lop-sided result against the Rhinos.

Indeed, the Rhinos led only 10-4 at half-time and Brothers remained fairly competitive in the second half until injuries began to sap the strength of the remaining players.

Brothers lost fullback Josh Whitty and centre Peter Jeffery to head knocks on Wednesday night, while Brendan Booke, Cameron Payne, Jamaal and Buddy Roberts are all under an injury cloud.

Two of the starting forward pack, Des Maher and Rod McFarlane, were unable to take the field against the Rhinos, while hooker Daniel Anderson had a recurrence of a knee injury and is likely to be out for the rest of the season.