BEN Wellington had a slightly different Mad Monday to his team mates; and not just because he doesn’t drink.
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The Nowra-Bomaderry Jets captain-coach tore a ligament in his index finger just eight minutes before full time in their 30-20 grand final win over the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas.
After the presentation, Wellington went to Wollongong Hospital to get a gauge on the severity of his injury, where he was told to return for surgery at 7.30 on Monday morning.
“We sat around for about an hour and a half and they said, you’ve got to go to Sydney,” Wellington said.
“My mum doesn’t like driving to Sydney, so we jumped on the train,” he added with a laugh.
While he is not a drinker, Wellington said it would have been nice to be around the rest of the group and was ‘pretty gutted’ to miss out.
“It was an interesting way to spend Mad Monday, I’m just glad it’s over,” he said.
“Now I’ve got a bit of time for mending and hopefully my injuries can heal before the start of next season,” he added.
It is not the first time Wellington has missed out on celebrating, having gone straight to hospital after the Jets semi-final win over Gerringong.
That was due to a torn rib cartilage, which saw him miss the preliminary final against Shellharbour.
There is no doubt his ribs were still causing him trouble during the grand final, but Wellington said he was never going to miss it.
“I actually hurt my ribs on the first hit up, but I managed to carry on and play through until halftime,” he said.
“I stayed off for a while, but the momentum was changing and I decided I had to go back on.
“In a grand final, you let the adrenaline push you through.”
With the exception oh his injuries, Wellington said it was a day where everything just fell into place.
An early 20-nil lead gave them a dream start and they never looked back.
“I knew if we got points early then it would play on their minds,” he said.
“That hardly ever happens in a grand final, it really was the best start I could ever have hoped for.
“They came back at us, but we weathered their attack and got a couple of tires back at the end.
“Every player wore their heart on their sleeves and I’m just so proud of them all.”