St George Illawarra’s playmaking stocks have suffered another blow with Jayden Sullivan suffering a pre-season hamstring injury in the same week Talatau Amone faces assault charges in court.
Sullivan, considered a long-term halfback successor to captain Ben Hunt, is expected to miss the Dragons’ trial match against touring Super League champions St Helens and the Charity Shield clash with South Sydney, costing him game time and the chance to push for a spot in Anthony Griffin’s first-choice 17.
An early six-week recovery prognosis has Sullivan touch and go for the Dragons round two clash against the Titans after a bye in the first week of the season.
His injury blow comes with fullback Cody Ramsey still unavailable for the long term through illness and Amone appearing in Wollongong court on Wednesday.
Amone has been charged with causing reckless grievous bodily harm in company, damaging property and stalking from a November 15 incident in which he is alleged to have attacked a roofing contractor with a hammer.
Allegedly armed with hammers, Amone, his father and another unknown man “followed [the victim] onto the roof before the 39-year-old man was allegedly pushed, causing him to fall two metres,” according to a police statement issued last month when the Dragons five-eighth was first charged.
The incident stemmed from a dispute over where the tradesman had parked his ute near Amone’s family home, police said at the time.
The reckless grievous bodily harm in company charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment, meaning it meets the threshold for the NRL’s “no-fault stand down” for players charged with serious criminal offences that carry more than 11 years’ jail time.
Neither the Dragons nor the NRL have commented on Amone’s immediate playing future given his case is due for mention in Wollongong local court on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old has trained as normal since his arrest in late-December.
Tyrell Sloan shapes as St George Illawarra’s fullback with Ramsey sidelined indefinitely as he recovers from a debilitating bout of ulcerative colitis. The 22-year-old has left hospital but there is no timeframe for his return to play.
It has been a tumultuous summer for the Dragons bright young stars given both Sullivan and Sloan requested formal releases from the club – which were later withdrawn – as they sought more regular game time at NRL rivals.
Moses Mbye and Sullivan are the leading options in the halves should Amone be unavailable.
