some good news to compensate
Whetu Douglas could return to Crusaders as injuries to loose forwards bite
Whetu Douglas could help the Crusaders in their time of need.
With
No 8 Kieran Read fracturing his right thumb during the Crusaders' 48-21
win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Sunday morning, coach Scott
Robertson has a stack of injured loose forwards on his books.
All
Blacks captain Read, who is expected to be out for at least six weeks,
has joined flanker Jed Brown (hamstring) and flanker/lock Mitchell
Dunshea (dislocated elbow) in the Crusaders' casualty ward.
This is where Douglas, the No 8 who proved so impressive when he made
six appearances for the Crusaders in their first seven games, re-enters
the story.
Last
month the 26 year old, originally drafted in from the Waikato as injury
cover because Read had to miss the first six rounds while recovering
from wrist surgery, left the Crusaders so he could prepare for the move
to Italy where he is contracted to play for the Treviso club for
the next two seasons.
The good news is Douglas, wife and three pre-school children aren't scheduled to leave New Zealand until May 28.
In
the wake of Read's mishap in South Africa, Robertson contacted Douglas,
who has returned to the North Island, to ask if there was any chance of
rushing across the Indian Ocean ahead of the Crusaders' next match
against the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend.
But there were
complications; although the Crusaders already had a visa organised for
South Africa, Douglas's passport was still with the Italian embassy and
his wife has been recovering from oral surgery. Lock Quinten Strange was
called-up as a replacement, instead.
Douglas said if Robertson still wanted him for the round-12 game, against the Hurricanes in Christchurch, he could assist.
"If Razor still needs me, that would probably be more likely,"
Douglas said in reference to the Hurricanes game. "We have gone back to
thinking about it, and we will try and make it happen if they need me
there."
Treviso, who have only one more game to play before their
season is finished, suggested to Douglas he could stay longer at the
Crusaders before he left - and Robertson hoped he would stay as cover
for the injured Brown and Dunshea.
But Douglas opted to put his
wife and children first. He elected to leave the Crusaders following the
match against the Sunwolves on April 14 because Read had proved himself
to be fully fit, he wanted time to shift out of their property, to
farewell whanau up north and get his family ready for the big shift.
"For
me, it is better to get the family over there with a bit more time to
get settled in," he said. "To make it easier for them, so I could just
flow into the season.
"If I was by myself it would be easy to hop
and fro, to go everywhere. But my main focus is my family. And then I
worked around that."
Douglas has signed a two-year deal with Treviso but has an out-clause after the first season.
The
Crusaders said they could be interested in signing him when he decides
to return. The Chiefs, who will farewell back rower Michael Leitch after
2018 because he has signed with the Sunwolves, could also ask Douglas
if he wants to return to Hamilton.
"Yes, there has been interest," he said.
"Obviously it is form-focused. We will wait and see."
- Stuff
