Whitehaven’s James Newton sustained a potentially life-changing injury in the last game of the season, but he is not giving up hope of getting back on the pitch.
BLOOD, sweat, tears – and quite a few cans of Lynx!
Whitehaven’s James Newton is reflecting on a rollercoaster of a year which, along with the usual bumps and bruises, brought his team’s captaincy, a testimonial, a threatened players’ strike amid a financial crisis and boardroom upheaval, coaching changes, relegation to League One, and a broken neck which left him fearing he could be paralysed.
But now, buoyed by being able to take a bath for the first time in two months, the experienced hooker is looking forward to accelerating, albeit gently, his planned move into coaching while plotting a return to work – and potentially the pitch.
Newton’s injury, sustained during the final game of his club’s troubled Championship campaign in late September and known in the trade as a hangman’s fracture, led to a tense 24-hour wait before vital surgery during which any wrong move might have had devastating consequences.
Having had a hospital transfer from Whitehaven to a specialist unit in Newcastle, 100 miles away, he was fitted with a metal ‘halo’ frame, attached to the skull with screws, to support his neck and allow the healing process to begin.
The severity of his situation might have put Whitehaven’s woes, as worrying as they have been, into some sort of perspective.
But the 32-year-old, who other than two seasons at Hull as a youngster and one (2018) at Workington, has spent his professional career at the (Ortus) Recreation Ground, still cares deeply about both the club and the game.
And as he prepares to take up new coach Anthony Murray’s offer of a role assisting him, he hasn’t give up hope of adding to more than 250 career appearances.
“I’m a realist, I know how serious the situation has been, and that my recovery is still very much ongoing, and I’ve had some honest conversations with the specialist at a fantastic department in Newcastle,” explains Newtown, who started out at his local club Millom and represented the Cumbria community game Under 19 team in 2010 before turning professional with Hull.
“I’m taking things day by day, there’s a way to go before I can even get back to work (in the nuclear industry at Sellafield), and I’ll always be guided by what my doctor says.
“But rugby league has been a huge part of my life, and hopefully it will continue to be.
“I came back from a major knee injury which some people said would finish my playing career, and I won’t leave any stone unturned before calling time on that side of things.
“The thought of training and playing again helps drive me to get up in the morning and do the things I need to do to keep getting better.
“I’ve spent a lot of time at home because of the injury, which gives you a lot of time to think, and of course I’ve gone over what’s happened many times.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s been tough mentally as well as physically, but I also know that it could have been a lot worse, as it was for some of the people I met while in hospital, and that I’ve been lucky.
“I try to treat it as taking steps, and getting the halo replaced by a plastic collar was a big one, both emotionally and practically.
“Until you are in a situation such as mine, you don’t really think about all those day-to-day, never mind bigger, things which become more difficult.
“Because of the frame, which came down to my waist, I hadn’t been able to wash properly, just use wipes and cans of spray.
“When the doctor told me it could come off, and added ‘you can have a bath now’, for some reason, that really hit home.
“I like to think I’m a strong person and quite positive, but I looked at my mum and my girlfriend and saw their faces, and I welled up. I think it was just a release of all the things which had been going round in my head.”
Murray’s coaching offer has also been a boost.
“It’s something I’d thought about doing in the longer term, and I had already dipped my toe into coaching at my old club Millom,” he adds.
“My old coach Jonty Gorley, (interim) Kyle Amor and Muzza (Murray) have all been great, as have the whole rugby league community, as well as people from other walks of life who have got in touch and given me support. It means an awful lot.
“Muzza has told me not to give up hope of playing again, but in the meantime, to get on board with him and (right-hand man) Neil Frazer behind the scenes.
“I’m not yet in a physical state where I can be involved in taking sessions, but I’m working towards that, and I’ve been down to address the boys, and it’s been good to be among them again.
“As one of the more experienced players, then captain, I’ve been used to being vocal and trying to pass on tips and advice and encouragement.
“There’s been a big change in the approach at Whitehaven after all the financial issues and dropping back into League One, and we have signed more local lads than ever.
“Having taken that step from the amateur game myself, hopefully I can help the lads adjust and find their feet at professional level.
“And I won’t give up hope of at some stage, being out there alongside them.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 504 (January 2025)
