{"id":887920,"date":"2026-09-11T08:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887920\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T08:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:24:12","slug":"nrl-2026-tom-jenkins-reveals-secret-injury-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887920\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Tom Jenkins reveals secret injury heartbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Jenkins\u2019 heartbreak in last year\u2019s finals series was one of the brutal stories of 2025 and makes his redemption arc even more spectacular, but what\u2019s not so widely known is a devastating injury blow earlier in his career that cost him a premiership.<\/p>\n

It was his second year in Penrith when Jenkins scored 20 tries in 22 games and looked certain to lift the trophy with his teammates in NSW Cup.<\/p>\n

But the rising star didn\u2019t play in the 2022 grand final after he broke his hand in a freak injury at training following a collision with Liam Henry.<\/p>\n

Jenkins was able to make a miraculous recovery to play in the State Championship a week after the NSW Cup decider, with the try-scoring machine now able to reveal what went down in that fateful session. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a very unlucky training incident,\u201d he told the NewsWire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a passing drill in defence. It was so unlucky, but I can look back now and laugh. <\/p>\n

\u201cI got surgery the next day and ended up probably being right to play in the final but not at 100 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made the call that it was best to just sit it out and then hopefully win the grand final so I\u2019d be available for the State Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four years later, Jenkins is now in a position to win the premiership he deserves after he was sensationally dropped for the finals opener 12 months ago despite thriving on the wing. <\/p>\n

His journey back to the Panthers has been told many times, with Jenkins leaving at the end of 2023 but lasting just one season in Newcastle where he barely played.<\/p>\n

He returned in 2025 and was set to play in the Ron Massey Cup, only to earn his shot in the NRL where he scored 13 tries in 21 games.<\/p>\n

A maiden finals berth was his, only for coach Ivan Cleary to tell him that he was going to be replaced by Paul Alamoti.<\/p>\n

Jenkins was told just minutes before he was scheduled to chat with the media, which meant he had to lie to reporters about how excited he was to be playing. <\/p>\n

Fast forward a year and he heads into the finals with 30 tries \u2013 equal with Alex Johnston at the top of the leaderboard \u2013 with Jenkins able to joke about last year\u2019s awkward situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not too sure yet, so we\u2019ll wait and see. A few hours until team lists come out, but he (Ivan) hasn\u2019t said anything yet, so fingers crossed I\u2019m in,\u201d he joked on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally it hurts, but I can still come out and laugh about it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pain of being dropped last year has played a role \u201cto a degree\u201d in his rapid rise, which has Jenkins in the mix for a World Cup spot next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more the conversations with Ivan and the different things I need to work on that I knew myself as well, and a big pre-season was obviously going to help that,\u201d he said after he started the season with 16 tries in the opening seven rounds. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt put me in good stead for the season and I feel like I\u2019ve been able to reap all the rewards of it, but still a long way to go yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe post-season I will look back (at being the leading try scorer) and I know mum and dad are pretty stoked about it, so I try to keep that under wraps for a bit with them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you could say it\u2019s been a nice rise and all that kind of stuff, but last year was probably more important in the sense that I was coming looking to play Ron Massey and ended up getting to play NRL. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in the NRL system for a while now and this year\u2019s more about working hard. It\u2019s sort of an old narrative now, I guess, the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018I can look back now and laugh\u2019: Tom Jenkins sensationally dropped ahead of the 2025 finals series, but it\u2019s not the first time he\u2019s dealt with pain<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Jenkins\u2019 heartbreak in last year\u2019s finals series was one of the brutal stories of 2025 and makes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[457544,457535,45986,22956,457537,457527,457546,93752,4891,457548,457551,435706,457541,376963,411982,457557,379540,457536,393786,457566,377825,442943,457545,457567,401260,404899,402304,457561,381022,386130,457556,376925,4558,457542,457531,457571,457534,64,63,32092,4613,3403,16308,154222,260185,428812,354926,379545,377168,423709,457569,457529,457543,457568,377197,12979,97278,5098,9831,417405,457553,45755,170572,457530,457560,13053,398880,761,762,10668,235081,158,457559,11742,5357,457554,16284,121439,135021,457562,457540,442216,371282,85,383337,1369,28056,457550,457570,457563,457549,457558,405935,457564,457528,215379,247976,377514,457552,376549,420644,379095,457533,364771,382332,380371,406344,380184,457538,457565,379656,378379,5991,438980,380487,377619,436960,457555,356269,380397,457532,457572,377466,386105,457539,417005,364611,26121,39,1542,457547,28333,53181],"class_list":["post-887920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-awkward-situation","tag-s-finals-series","tag-45986","tag-12-months","tag-13-tries","tag-16-tries","tag-20-tries","tag-93752","tag-4891","tag-21-games-a-maiden-finals-berth","tag-22-games","tag-30-tries","tag-a-big-pre-season","tag-a-bit","tag-a-collision","tag-a-controversial-call","tag-a-degree","tag-a-devastating-injury-blow","tag-a-few-hours","tag-a-freak-injury","tag-a-long-way","tag-a-miraculous-recovery","tag-a-nice-rise","tag-a-passing-drill","tag-a-position","tag-a-premiership","tag-a-role","tag-a-very-unlucky-training-incident","tag-a-week","tag-a-while","tag-a-world-cup-spot","tag-a-year","tag-alex-johnston","tag-all-that-kind","tag-all-the-rewards","tag-an-old-narrative","tag-another-heartbreaking-setback","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cent","tag-coach-ivan-cleary","tag-defence","tag-finals","tag-fingers","tag-four-years","tag-good-stead","tag-heartbreak","tag-his-career","tag-his-hand","tag-his-journey","tag-his-rapid-rise","tag-his-redemption-arc","tag-his-second-year","tag-his-shot","tag-his-teammates","tag-injuries","tag-ivan","tag-ivan-cleary","tag-jenkins","tag-just-minutes","tag-just-one-season","tag-last-year","tag-liam-henry","tag-liam-henry-jenkins","tag-many-times","tag-morning","tag-mum-and-dad","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newcastle","tag-next-month","tag-nrl","tag-nsw-cup-but","tag-pain","tag-panthers","tag-paul-alamoti-jenkins","tag-penrith","tag-post-season","tag-reporters","tag-ron-massey","tag-secret-injury-heartbreak","tag-seven-rounds","tag-sort","tag-sports","tag-stuff","tag-surgery","tag-team-lists","tag-that-fateful-session","tag-the-2022-grand-final","tag-the-2025-finals-series","tag-the-2025-nrl-finals-series","tag-the-brutal-stories","tag-the-call","tag-the-conversations","tag-the-different-things","tag-the-end","tag-the-final","tag-the-finals","tag-the-finals-opener","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-grand-final","tag-the-leaderboard","tag-the-leading-try-scorer","tag-the-media","tag-the-mix","tag-the-newswire","tag-the-next-day","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-nrl-system","tag-the-nsw-cup-decider","tag-the-opening","tag-the-pain","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-panthers-star","tag-the-premiership","tag-the-rise","tag-the-rising-star","tag-the-ron-massey-cup","tag-the-season","tag-the-sense","tag-the-state-championship","tag-the-state-cup","tag-the-top","tag-the-trophy","tag-the-try-scoring-machine","tag-the-wing","tag-this-year","tag-tom-jenkins","tag-top-stories","tag-training","tag-try-scoring-freak","tag-tuesday","tag-wraps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}