Coach Shane Flanagan of St George Illawarra expressed sympathy for prospective Dragon Ronald Volkman, saying the team was compelled to consider their interests after refusing to register his contract with the NRL owing to a shoulder injury.
The only thing the Dragons, according to Flanagan, would have done differently is to have required the player to undergo a private medical examination instead of allowing him to participate in a training session while he wasn’t yet under contract.
After receiving an official release from the New Zealand Warriors before Christmas, the 21-year-old Volkman was dealt to the Dragons for a year, but his contract was terminated when it became apparent that he required shoulder surgery. Volkman is currently without a club.
On Thursday, Flanagan emphasized that Volkman and the Dragons had both made the right decisions.
When asked how the Dragons should have handled the matter better, Flanagan responded, “He should have done the light training that exposed his injury behind closed doors.”
“His training with us demonstrated that he was unfit. That day, it was more medical in nature. He did not do anything but catch and pass. He made no physical touch.
“In my twenty years of doing this, I have never saw a player fail a medical exam. We know that one of the athletes had a shoulder reconstruction in the past, but based on the scans, it appears that he had two screws removed rather than just failing the medical exam.
“I have sympathy for the young man. We had to defend ourselves as a club, which is regrettable. Numerous lessons can be drawn from it. The club will not back down from that.
Volkman will travel to Sydney for a third round of scans.
In an interview with this masthead last week, Warriors CEO Cameron George stated that the team had not withheld information on Volkman’s injuries from the Dragons and that they ought to have finished the signing process by having a physical.
“I would have assumed a club would do that kind of due diligence before agreeing to sign someone,” he continued.
Volkman’s shoulder strength was “down 60%,” according to Flanagan, but the extent of his damage was unknown to him.
Based on the facts we received, Webb added, “we didn’t have any reason to be unduly cautious.” “You would be cautious the next time about when you announce the signing news to the public.”
“We made it very evident that if you pass the medical, you’ll be signed. He is not one of our players because he failed the medical exam. It’s very regrettable.
Volkman has remained in communication with the Dragons, who signed Jesse Marschke, the NSW Cup player of the year, who trained with the Melbourne Storm for the previous three months.
“He’s a good kid who was here today, signed his contract,” Flanagan remarked.
