HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS coach Luke Robinson has blamed poor medical assessment for Jack Murchie’s ill-fated spell with the club.
The back-rower is returning home to Australia after being released halfway through a three-year contract.
Murchie, a former Canberra Raiders, New Zealand Warriors and Parramatta Eels player, only made 17 appearances for Huddersfield due to persistent knee injuries.
Robinson said that the club were aware of previous issues when Murchie was signed ahead of the 2024 season.
“He struggled with a knee injury when he first came over,” explained Robinson, who stepped up from assistant coach late last year.
“One of the big things (I noticed) when I took over is the lack of medicals that were done previously.
“I didn’t (know), but the club knew he’d had issues with both knees in the past. The club thought it was something that could be managed, but he had troubles at the back end of last year and it happened again this year.
“It (fuller assessment) is something from a recruitment perspective that we didn’t do in the past. That’s something we’ve eradicated now.
“Clubs in the past have probably been in similar situations and changed the way they do it. It’s something we’ve changed which will only be beneficial for us moving forward.
“We do a lot of in-depth research into the medical history and, let’s be honest, rugby league is a small world. A lot of physios know each other and you can pull the medical history up and speak to doctors from other clubs who have had them in their care. We do a lot of due diligence into it.
“I’m not saying it was a foregone conclusion that this is how it was going to play out (for Murchie). It’s very unfortunate from the player’s perspective that it did.
“When he’s on form he’s a very handy player, so it’s disappointing he hasn’t been able to showcase that.”