South Sydney Rabbitohs star Angus Crichton has taken the extreme measure of having the middle finger of his left hand partially amputated to help solve a troublesome injury.
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Back-rower Crichton ruptured a tendon in the finger when he was part of the Rabbitohs' under-20 side and has been plagued by the problem ever since.
The 21-year-old, who will join arch-rivals Sydney Roosters from 2019, has now undergone surgery and general manager Shane Richardson says the operation will speed up his recovery time.
"He's had it partially amputated. He's had a problem with that finger for three years now so he needed to do something about it," Richardson told NRL.com.
"He has had four operations and reconstructions on it and made the choice himself, in discussion with the medical team.
"Another reconstruction would have taken him between eight to 10 weeks to get over. This is going to take two weeks.
"It just became so frustrating for him that every off-season he had to have a reconstruction, so he opted to partially amputate his finger. He had this option 12 months ago, and he chose not to do it.
"Now he has chosen to go down this path, a decision he made himself."
Crichton had made his intention public earlier this week when discussing the issue in an article for The Players' Voice.
"I can't bend the finger, so it's like I'm constantly giving people the bird. If I clench my fist, my middle finger sticks out," Crichton said.
"The doctor said I could either cut it off halfway or fuse it. I've had it fused several times now because I keep breaking it.
"I've decided this is the last time I'm getting it fused. It's the fourth fusion that's broken and if it happens again I'm going to have it cut it in half, because I'm just over it."