Ronald Volkman 2023 crop.png

Player Ronald Volkman

Date of Birth
Jul 4, 2002
Birth Location
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality
  1. 🇦🇺 Australia
  2. 🇼🇸 Samoa
Height (cm)
179 cm
Weight (kg)
93 kg
Position/s
  1. Five-Eighth
  2. Halfback
Warrior #
272
Warriors Debut Date
Jun 18, 2022
Warriors Debut Details
June 18 2022, Round 15 vs Penrith Panthers at Moreton Daily Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Warriors Years Active
  1. 2022
  2. 2023
Signed To
St George Dragons
Signed From
Sydney Roosters
Current Club
St George Dragons
Rep Honours
  1. Samoa
Status
Active
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Volkman
Rugby League Project
https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/ronald-volkman/summary.html
NameRonald Volkman
Born04 July 2002 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Height179cm
Weight93kg
PositionHalfback
Warriors Player Number#272
Warriors DebutRound 15 vs. Penrith Panthers, 18 June 2022
Warriors Career2022-
RepresentativeSamoa
Junior ClubBankstown Bulldogs

Ronald Volkman (born 4 July 2002) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Volkman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He went to Waverley College. He is of Samoan & German descent.

Volkman is a Cabramatta Rugby Leagues junior, and signed with the Sydney Roosters in 2021. Volkman also played in the NSW Cup for the North Sydney Bears. In May 2022, he was released mid season by the Roosters and signed with the New Zealand Warriors on a three year deal. Volkman made his first grade debut in round 15 of the 2022 NRL season in his side's 40−6 loss to the Penrith Panthers at Dolphin Stadium.


Sydney Roosters half was initially signed by the One New Zealand Warriors for three seasons from 2023 but subsequently gained a release to join his new club midway through the 2022 season.

The One New Zealand Warriors fended off approaches from a number of rival clubs to secure the gifted teenager and further bolster their roster for the coming years.
next season and beyond.

Volkman had an outstanding schoolboy rugby union career at noted nursery Waverley College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs before being signed by the Roosters.

Touted in the preseason as one of the players to watch in 2022, he found himself in a queue of playmakers at the Roosters behind Luke Keary, Sam Walker, Drew Hutchinson and Lachlan Lam.

He had played a handful of games for Roosters feeder club North Sydney in the New South Wales Cup. In six appearances in 2021 he finished with seven try assists and five line break assists.

Also a goal kicker, he has come through the grades playing for the Roosters at under-16, under-18 and under-20 level.

After being used by the One New Zealand Warriors in their feeder club Redcliffe in the Queensland Cup, Volkman made his NRL debut against Penrith in June and also played in the homecoming win over Wests Tigers before a shoulder injury ended his season.



Screenshot 2023-10-16 9.52.53 PM.png
Screenshot from the official Warriors site of Ronald Volkman bio as of 16/10/2023...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Some tidbits:
Volkman assured the Herald that he is not upset with either the Warriors or Dragons, but now has to come to terms with missing an entire season.

He also confirmed he re-injured his shoulder during pre-season training with the Warriors but was cleared of serious injury.

“I copped a whack at training, there was some shoulder-to-shoulder contact, and my arm went dead,” he said.

The Herald reports that the Warriors paid out Volkman around $200,000 of his deal.
 

Some tidbits:
And: He also revealed he could face a wait time of “up to a year” because he’s a public patient now. And the surgery could cost up to $50k.

What! So he could be screwed for 2025 with the recovery as well! He needs to invest in himself by going privately or the NRL step in as a duty of care thing.

Terrible situation.
 
And: He also revealed he could face a wait time of “up to a year” because he’s a public patient now. And the surgery could cost up to $50k.

What! So he could be screwed for 2025 with the recovery as well! He needs to invest in himself by going privately or the NRL step in as a duty of care thing.

Terrible situation.

He'll go private I reckon but this is a good attempt to see if anyone can come to the party first.

Surely the RLPA are still reviewing the situation.
 
Are the Dragons in the wrong here at all?
I think ultimately it's Volkman and his manager that is 100% at fault here. (Who is he managed by?).

I think the Warriors may have some questions to answer about the extent of his shoulder injury and why it seemingly wasn't taken more seriously (Volkman may have played a part in that hoping it wasn't to bad and wanting to be picked up by the Dragons. Is that a possibility?)

The Dragons certainly seem to have taken a number of things for granted instead of following the recognized methods of signing a new player. Announcing him before a contract is lodged, having him involved in training some of which looked more than non contact training, and it doesn't seem like they put him through an individual assessment very thoroughly which should have picked this up fairly easily you would have thought.

Ultimately though, like I say, this is 100% on Volkman and his manager for finding themselves in this position. You don't leave until you have a confirmed new position.
 
Surely if he signed a contract, he is employed by the Dragons from that moment. Registered or not?
Shouldn’t the medical be before the signing. And what does chocolate feel like?
 
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Surely if he signed a contract, he is employed by the Dragons from that moment. Registered or not?
Shouldn’t the medical be before the signing. And what does chocolate feel like?

He signed a contract subject to successful medical - which as we know he failed.

Flanagan has publicly said it's rare for medicals to be failed in this way hence the lax approach it seems.
 
I think ultimately it's Volkman and his manager that is 100% at fault here. (Who is he managed by?).

I think the Warriors may have some questions to answer about the extent of his shoulder injury and why it seemingly wasn't taken more seriously (Volkman may have played a part in that hoping it wasn't to bad and wanting to be picked up by the Dragons. Is that a possibility?)

The Dragons certainly seem to have taken a number of things for granted instead of following the recognized methods of signing a new player. Announcing him before a contract is lodged, having him involved in training some of which looked more than non contact training, and it doesn't seem like they put him through an individual assessment very thoroughly which should have picked this up fairly easily you would have thought.

Ultimately though, like I say, this is 100% on Volkman and his manager for finding themselves in this position. You don't leave until you have a confirmed new position.

I tend to agree with this.

In terms if our culpability I'm assuming this scenario is quite common where maybe you sit and wait to see if it improves.

Or come first contact session he busts it needing the full scan etc where it all comes out.

Things have a way of working out though and I'm sure the prospects of avoiding a full rehab in Auckland away from home is good for him
 
I tend to agree with this.

In terms if our culpability I'm assuming this scenario is quite common where maybe you sit and wait to see if it improves.

Or come first contact session he busts it needing the full scan etc where it all comes out.

Things have a way of working out though and I'm sure the prospects of avoiding a full rehab in Auckland away from home is good for him
He said he busted it in Auckland, did the Warriors not get it scanned, and did the scan not show up how bad it was? Or did he not indicate there was a problem, or maybe didn't know. Lot of unknowns here.

Hope someone steps up to get him into private surgery promptly, like his manager who was supposed to be advising him throughout this disaster.
 
Flanagan has publicly said it's rare for medicals to be failed in this way hence the lax approach it seems.
The way I see it going down is Volkman didn’t know he had injured it bad. It sounds like screws from previous surgery are loose. Probably doesn’t hurt (or always tender and no more than usual), has good strength but still needs to be fixed. Not really even an injury just a unsuccessful previous op.

Volkmans and the Warriors probably didn’t even know the extent.

If he says he’s fine to play, the Sharks probably wouldn’t even bother with Medicals on low pay guys and as Volkman himself thought he was fit and health - low risk. Then sit on the contract as a physical trial period (even though against rules)

Start training, he seems ginger, decide to check it out and shit hits the fan. Jump back to contract and get out on the medical clause even though a medical test was never going to be done and he had already trained.

If they didn’t get out on a medical test, they could probably back out on some other clause around misrepresentation (must be small print you sign certifying that you are fit, healthy, injury free, etc at contract start date)

Just a bad situation for poor Volkman.
 
Are the Dragons in the wrong here at all?
If you believe Flanagan, the Dragons are not at fault :oops:

To be honest though, I think the manager should cover it. He stuffed up and didn't manage the risk. The most critical time for a manager to do their best for their client is when they are young, impressionable, easily manipulated and have a career ahead of them. Young players have all sorts of potential and, despite low starting pay, have the most to lose.

No doubt the manager will have sloping shoulders and Volkman will wallow somewhere and will be replaced by another expendible youngster
 

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