Waratahs lock Will Caldwell will miss the entire 2011 season to concentrate on recovering fully from Crohn's disease.
Coach Hickey admits loss of forward is a blow to Australian team
Waratahs lock Will Caldwell will miss the entire 2011 Super 15 season to concentrate on recovering from a debilitating illness.
Caldwell was struck down with Crohn's disease following his team's South African leg of the 2009 Super 14 campaign.
Having missed the rest of that season after losing more than 20kg in weight, the 28-year-old returned to action for the 'Tahs' opening match in 2010.
He went on to play in nine matches, though he has never fully been able to overcome the illness.
Extremely frustrating
"It's been an extremely frustrating 18 months to say the least," said Caldwell in a statement.
"Personally, 2009 was probably the best season I'd had in professional rugby and everything was moving in the right direction.
"The Crohn's really knocked me around. I couldn't do much at all, let alone play footy but I just kept working with the medical staff on trying to manage the symptoms and do the best I could.
"On top of that I had a bit of trouble with a hamstring in the pre-season so I couldn't play the trials, but it was good to be back for round one.
"I believe we've stayed on top of it as much as we could, but it's become pretty clear in the past few months that trying to battle Crohn's and couple it with being a professional footballer isn't ideal.
"Rather than spend another season trying to do both I've made the call to spend a season away from the game in 2011 and the Tahs have released me to be able to do that.
"From a team perspective I don't want the guys worrying about carrying me if I'm not 100 per cent which is exactly where you have to be in order to be competitive in this tournament.
"On a personal level it'll give me the time to get as healthy as I can, and hopefully be in a position where I'll be healthy and have a good base to come back from."
Blow
Waratahs head coach Chris Hickey said the loss of Caldwell, the most-capped second rower in New South Wales rugby history, was a blow to the squad.
"Will is a big part of the organisation both on and off the field so he's certainly going to be missed next season," said Hickey.
"What's most important for Will is to get on top of his health and worry about Rugby after that.
"It's a big call from him to step away from the game for a year but he's weighed up all of his options and believes it's the best decision to make and we're fully supportive of that."
