By Dan Walsh
South Sydney captain Cameron Murray has suffered a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon that could rule him out for the season in a worst-case scenario.
Murray went down at Rabbitohs training on Wednesday and had to be helped from the club’s Heffron Park training paddock, while star fullback Latrell Mitchell also suffered a hamstring injury in the same session that will rule him out of Saturday’s Charity Shield clash against the Dragons.
Double injury blow: Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell.
Both will undergo scans on Wednesday, but Murray is “not expected to be available to play in the coming months,” according to the club.
Depending on the damage done to Murray’s Achilles, he could be sidelined for the Rabbitohs’ entire campaign, though club officials are already pointing to Darius Boyd’s five-month recovery from a similar injury at Brisbane in 2015.
Mitchell was able to leave South Sydney’s field session of his own accord after pulling up lame, but has a history of hamstring injuries having torn tendons in his left hamstring in 2020 and 2022.
Murray’s ankle injury continues a wretched injury run for one of the Rabbitohs highest-paid players.
The 27-year-old only just returned to training alongside his teammates after undergoing wrist surgery late last year to repair his scapholunate ligament after playing with the injury for Australia in the Pacific Championships.
Murray had been pushing to be available for Wayne Bennett’s round one return as Rabbitohs coach against his old club the Dolphins on March 7.
Mitchell was earlier this month ruled free to play against the Dolphins after the NRL ruled his one-game suspension could be served in the recent All Stars match.
Luckless centre Campbell Graham continues to train and manage a fractured hand picked up two weeks ago, while prop Junior Tatola is also running again after two foot operations and an infection that threatened his career and limited him to the first six games of 2024.
More to come.
