The Sydney Roosters continue to be plagued by injuries as their preparations for round one suffered a major setback in a dismal pre-season defeat to the Sea Eagles on Friday night.
Manly scored five unanswered tries before the Roosters finally got on the scoreboard in the final 15 minutes, with the final score 28-16 in Gosford.
But the Roosters suffered yet another injury blow with Joseph Suaalii lasting just 18 minutes before copping a head knock while attempting a tackle. The 19-year-old failed a subsequent concussion test and was not able to return.
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“He was OK, I saw him briefly after the game and asked him how he was. He said ‘sweet’ but he couldn’t return,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“He’s been going great out there at left centre, but we got to see all [of 18 minutes].
“It would have been great to see him last week and this week get more time there, but he’s looked very comfortable in the pre-season. We have to do it against an opposition now.
“He’s had to learn some different traits there. Obviously playing on the right side, he has a right-arm carry, but his ability to play both sides of the ball, which he had to do at fullback at the World Cup [with Samoa], his quality allows him to move to whichever side.”
Suaalii will need to pass concussion protocols in order to feature in Round 1, but Robinson was confident that experienced prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (lower back) and Sam Walker (Covid-19) will be fine to play the historic opening-round clash against the Dolphins on March 5. Robinson said Waerea-Hargreaves could have played against Manly but “didn’t have the miles on the legs”.
However, Robinson wasn’t nearly as confident on the fortunes of Joey Manu, who copped a facial fracture while training in Queenstown at the outset of this month. The NZ international had needed a number of metal plates and bolts when he was injured in a horror clash with Latrell Mitchell in late 2021, but Robinson was glad to reveal the star man didn’t require the insertion of plates into his face this time around.
“He’s not definitely back [for Round 1],” the coach said.
“It was four weeks with that, which will be close. Four weeks will be Round 1 from when he did it. It will be doctor’s advice and another scan to see if he’s going to be right. I’m not trying to downplay it – he will be touch and go for Round 1.
“There is no plate in there, which is a positive as far as the severity of it, but it was enough to get a bit of a crack in there.”
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Manu isn’t the only star battling a facial injury, with Luke Keary also in doubt for round one after a knock to the jaw in training.
Robinson emphasised that Keary had not suffered a concussion – which he has battled on multiple occasions in the past – but the Roosters were taking a ‘cautious’ approach to his comeback.
“He’s good. We want to be quite cautious, we have time at the moment, and if we rush it back, we don’t want to extend that time off,” Robinson explained.
“We’re taking it slow to start with because we want to make sure he’s right for Round 1.”
