Brothers in arms: Harley Smith-Shields' brother Jese donates hamstring to fix a Canberra Raider's knee

A part of Jese's hamstring to be precise.

Most people have heard of organ donors, but a hamstring donor? Not so much.

But when Smith-Shields went in to have his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee reconstructed, his older brother Jese also went under the knife to donate some of his hamstring tendon to get the job done.

It's made an already tight-knit family even tighter.

When Smith-Shields hurt his knee, it hit the whole family.

They knew how close the Canberra Raiders young gun was to getting a chance to lock down one of the starting centre spots.

But now he faces the prospect of missing the entire 2022 NRL season.

It was a bitter pill to swallow as the 22-year-old looked to add to his nine games.

Jese had already been in the stands for every one of those nine games - and most of his lower-grade ones.

But the next will be even more special when he watches his brother run out in lime green - knowing he's done his part in helping get him there.

The hardest part wasn't convincing Jese to do it, it was convincing Jese he wasn't taking the proverbial.

"I actually thought he was joking. It took me a while for him to convince me he wasn't joking, but other than that it wasn't too much thought before I put myself down for it before the surgeon ticked off on it," he said.

"Some people have been saying that actually - that part of me will play NRL now - but I'm just keen to see him back on the field.

"The whole family took a hit with the news of what he'd done. We're all a pretty close-knitted family and it was something I could do to get him back on the field."

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It's been a tough two seasons for Smith-Shields. He missed a large chunk of last year with a biceps tendon injury. Now he's done his knee.

And he'd been training the house down during the pre-season. So much so, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart had pencilled him in for a spot in the centres against the Cronulla Sharks come round one.

Not to mention the fact Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker says he's the quickest player in the Green Machine. Even quicker than the lightning fast Xavier Savage.

There was also a potential complication with the surgery - Smith-Shields had a history of hamstring problems. Tearing both.

That meant the hardest thing to get over was going to be the operation on his hamstring rather than the reconstruction itself.

But enter, stage left, former Canberra co-captain Josh Hodgson.

The Raiders will lose much more than just the England international's skills on the football field when he moves to Parramatta next year. They'll also be losing a vast amount of experience and knowledge as well.

Hodgson was one of the first people to call Smith-Shields after the injury.

And not only was he able to impart his own experience of two knee recos, but a genuine nugget of gold as well.

For Hodgson's second ACL, he also had a donor. And from there the idea grew into a reality.

"Hodgo's great. He called me straight away and he's been checking in most days to see how I'm going," Smith-Shields said.

"I've actually got a lot of tips from him because he's obviously been there.

"Straight away he said just get it as straight as you can as quick as you can and that will help in the long run.

"That's where I got [the idea of a donor] from Hodgo. Hodgo was talking to me about all the different options you can take.

"Hodgo on his second one got a donor hamstring graft from the ones that the doctor supplies."

Now Smith-Shields' dad Braden has another entry for his injury wall.

He's got a collection of photos from the four brothers' exploits over the years, chronicling their various surgeries and trips to the hospital.

And - with the coronavirus kiboshing the chance of a post-surgery visit - the brothers were told to make sure they got a snapshot for the family album.

Or, more accurately, the wall of the "little" gymnasium at home. A gymnasium that's so impressive it came into its own when COVID-19 sent everyone into lockdown.

While the Raiders staff were dropping off bits of equipment to most of the squad. Smith-Shields didn't need to be added to the delivery route.

But I digress.

"Our dad always wants a pic for our injury wall he calls it," Smith-Shields said.

"As soon as we woke up he said, 'How you boys going?' and because he wasn't allowed in the day surgery because of COVID he said, 'Make sure you get that pic for me'.

"I had an eye-socket injury and the bicep, and Jese's had a few surgeries himself when he was playing in the younger grades with Raiders.

"That was a good one to get us both laid up in recovery next to each other was pretty funny."

As for the two patients? They're both doing well. Although Jese's also gone in for back surgery to fix an injury from his days as a promising junior, having played juniors for the Raiders.

But Canberra are helping Jese out with his rehabilitation given the sacrifice he's made.

Smith-Shields admitted doing his knee was a "bummer" at first, but now he's moved on and was focused on his recovery.

Plus he's got a pretty cool story for him and his brother to tell.

"Yeah a bit of a bummer. That initial disappointment's probably the main thing and then just getting on with it and getting stuck into rehab is the next sort of thing," Smith-Shields said.

"I think when the games roll around that's going to be the toughest - watching the boys play."

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