The NRL career of Broncos forward Corey Jensen has been left hanging in the balance after the club shed light on the premiership winner’s grim medical situation. Jensen’s season has been ended after Brisbane club doctor Matt Hislop revealed the 32-year-old would need to take a blood thinner for the next six months to treat blood clots on his lung, preventing him from doing any contact work.
It comes as another cruel blow for Jensen, who hasn’t played since Round 7 after blood clots were discovered in his lung. It’s the second time he’s had a clot after a previous one in his leg. Jensen and the Broncos had been holding out hope that he would return for Michael Maguire’s injury-ravaged side this season.
Broncos premiership winner Corey Jensen will have to take blood thinning medication for at least the next six months, ending his NRL season and leaving his career hanging in the balance. Pic: Getty
(Getty)
But the club’s doctor revealed in a devastating update on Wednesday that Jensen would have to be placed on blood thinner Warfarin for at least the next six months, during which time he’s unable to do any contact work. Due to the complicated nature of Jensen’s situation, there is also a possibility he will have to take blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life, which threatens to spell a premature end to his NRL career.
The biggest issue is that the cause of the clots remain unknown, as was the case with the deep vein thrombosis (DVT) Jensen had in his calf last year. The forward will undergo further tests in around three weeks to determine if there is an underlying auto-immune issue, after a CT scan showed the clots in his lung had improved but were still present.
“The future is a little uncertain for Corey,” Broncos club doctor Hislop said. “If the upcoming blood test is positive, it will likely mean he needs to stay on Warfarin for the rest of his life. If it is negative, it still means we do not know the reason for his recurrent development of blood clots.”
The NRL world is rallying around Corey Jensen after the worrying health update that threatens to spell an end to his NRL career. Pic: Getty
(Chris Hyde via Getty Images)Support pours in for Corey Jensen after awful news
Hislop said there was a chance Jensen could take a different type of blood thinner, which could be potentially stopped around contact and re-started afterwards. “Obviously this is not without risk, but it could allow Corey to continue to play rugby league,” Hislop said.
The NRL world has rallied around Jensen after news of the awful development emerged. And it comes as another brutal blow for Maguire’s struggling defending premiers, who are missing 10 players for Saturday night’s must-win home game against the Sharks, knowing another loss will all but end their faint finals hopes.