Injury-plagued forward Ryan Sutton has called out for NRL teams to give him another chance as he hopes to earn a career lifeline.
An England 9s international, Sutton spent four seasons with the Canberra Raiders (2019-22) before making the move to the Canterbury Bulldogs on a price-tag of $550,000-a-season, but failed to make an impact due to multiple injuries.
Spending most of his time off the field over the past three years, Sutton was released by the Bulldogs in March before eventually being picked up by the Gold Coast Titans on a train-and-trial deal.
However, as he returned to the field, the 30-year-old only lasted a few more matches before a ruptured biceps injury at a training session put his career on hold, yet again.
Linked with a move to the Super League, Sutton is hoping to earn an NRL lifeline for the 2026 NRL season and believes that he is raring to go ahead as clubs prepare to enter the upcoming pre-season.
“I am ready and raring to go pre-season,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“It is the first opportunity that I’ve had in the last two to go into day one and be fully fighting fit. I’ve been non-stop training. The knee is feeling unbelievable.”
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 12: Ryan Sutton of the Raiders in action during the round 14 NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and the Brisbane Broncos at GIO Stadium, on June 12, 2021, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Close to hanging up the boots on his career at multiple stages, Sutton opened up on his tumultuous past three years.
In two seasons at Belmore, he played in only 13 NRL matches, spending most of his tenure either on the sidelines due to a hip or knee issue or in the NSW Cup competition.
“The past few years have been a rollercoaster,” Sutton added.
“Going into the New Year in 2023 I had a knee issue but I thought it was something going to be recovered from easily. It got worse and some of the advice might not have been the greatest.
“I did what I had to do to get back playing again and then I ruptured the patella. It was a really rocky Two-and-a-half years of my life.
“All you want to do as a footy player is play footy, but you can’t do that. I had to take some professional help because I was lost. I wanted to find out more about myself. I was getting into slumps.
“I can go into a place and have a smile on my face but I was hurting. When you hear whispers about a club wanting to get rid of you or people saying negative things it gets to you.”