South Sydney players are rallying around luckless veteran Euan Aitken who will have to wait at least another year to play in the finals after scans confirmed he fractured his scapula during Friday’s win over the Roosters.
It’s a devastating blow for the 31-year-old who played a finals game in his rookie season with the Dragons in 2015 but hasn’t been back since.
Aitken has played 201 games since that lone final across stints with the Dragons, Warriors, Dolphins and now the Rabbitohs, and was looking forward to ending what is currently the longest finals drought among active NRL players.
“I’m probably one of the longest-serving players that hasn’t played finals since my first year, so it means a lot to me to get in that team and play finals footy,” Aitken said a few weeks ago.
“That’s the only thing I had written down before the start of the year was to play finals, so hopefully I’ll be able to get to do that over the next few weeks.
“It stings. It hurts the most. That’s all you want to do as a footy player is win games, play finals and try for that ultimate premiership at the back end.
“I’ve been around for a while now, played over 200 games, so that’s all I want to do. That’s the last thing I need to do is to have a good finals series, and hopefully we can get there.”
The injury means Aitken will have to wait another year to hopefully end the streak, with his teammates aware of how long he had waited for this opportunity.
“He was shattered and he couldn’t believe it,” Souths skipper Cameron Murray said.
“It’s an unforgiving game sometimes, and sometimes you don’t get the rub of the green.
“He’s been a pivotal player in our team this year and did some really great things, so we’re going to miss him. We really feel for him, so we’ll just try and get around him and support him as best we can.”
Powerhouse prop Keaon Koloamatangi will leave the club at the end of the season to join the Dragons but hopes the Rabbitohs will be in the finals next year just so Aitken can be there.
There is no chance for him to return in the finals, with Aitken leaving Allianz Stadium with his arm in a sling following a heavy collision last week.
“He’s probably one of the boys here that takes his rehab and training very seriously. He’s always looking after his body and it’s one of those things that was sort of out of his control. It was just one of those crazy tackles,” Koloamatangi said.
“I remember him saying last week that it’s his first finals game in 11 years and he felt like he jinxed himself. But that’s how footy works and that’s how life works sometimes.
“There’s not much you can do about it. But knowing him and knowing this team, they’ll definitely be back next year and he’ll get his opportunity again.”
Originally published as ‘Shattered’: Euan Aitken’s brutal finals drought to continue after scans rule him out for the rest of the year