Cronulla five-eighth Todd Carney has vowed to continue putting his body on the line this NRL season, despite his troublesome hamstring showing no sign of healing.
Carney was rushed back for the Sharks in Saturday night's 22-20 loss to the Wests Tigers at Remondis Stadium, but Cronulla could pay a dear price for that decision, with the playmaker breaking down early in the match and straining his left hamstring once again.
The 27-year-old bravely played out the 80 minutes, but he was visibly on one leg as he made some uncharacteristic errors in his attempts to rein in the two-point deficit in the final 10 minutes.
It seems Carney is set for another stint on the sidelines.
With Cronulla languishing at the bottom of the ladder, their top eight hopes appear doomed and there would be a temptation to give Carney's body an extended period to heal.
However, Carney says the club's predicament would only motivate him to continue to battle on.
"Yeah definitely, that's why we play football," he said.
"I do want to be out there and it's just about monitoring it.
"It's not as bad as last time because I continued the game, but I was on one leg and pretty busted."
Carney first damaged his hamstring during the Auckland Nines and broke down again against Penrith in round eight.
He has even travelled to the Australian Institute of Sport to consult with an expert on hamstring injuries in a bid to shake the recurring injury which has affected his speed and confidence in 2014.
With the Sharks to be without their best player Paul Gallen through the State of Origin period, Carney is particularly keen to get back soon, even though he is now in grave doubt for next Monday's clash against South Sydney.
"I'm doing everything and more so it's a bit frustrating. But this happens in sport and it's an unfortunate time," he said.
"If you're on the bottom of the ladder the mood isn't great. But it's a long year and we've just got to keep turning up and working hard and hopefully it starts paying benefits.
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