Former Australian rugby league team doctor Nathan Gibbs has warned Brisbane Broncos captain Darren Lockyer he could be risking his eyesight by playing with a fractured cheekbone.
An authority in sports medicine who runs his own clinic in Sydney, Dr Gibbs says Lockyer's orbital bone, which keeps the eye in place, will still be exposed if he takes the field against Manly in Friday's NRL Preliminary Final against Manly, five days after having three plates surgically inserted in his left cheek.
Lockyer has indicated he is prepared to play in the grand final qualifier.
But Dr Gibbs, who played 86 games in the backrow for South Sydney before taking up the position of team doctor for Manly, NSW and Australia during the 1990s, says the Brisbane captain needs to weigh up the risks.
"His face will not be close to healed in a week. It's a preliminary final match, and they will have to decide if the risk of further damage is worth it,'' Dr Gibbs told Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper.
