There are fears Jye Gray and Peter Mamouzelos could join South Sydney’s bulging casualty ward after a horror Magic Round outing for the Rabbitohs.
Gray hobbled from the field with an upper leg injury midway through the second half as the Bunnies crashed to a 30-4 loss against Newcastle.
Then in the final minute, dummy-half Mamouzelos appeared to pick up an elbow injury as he tried to tackle Leo Thompson.
An already patched-up Bunnies were always going to struggle against a Kalyn Ponga and Fletcher Sharpe-inspired Newcastle. The defeat was their fourth in a row.
Jye Gray receives attention from a South Sydney trainerCredit: Getty Images
Souths lost Jack Wighton during the week to a calf injury, and were already missing skipper Cam Murray (Achilles), Cody Walker (calf) and Jamie Humphreys (hamstring), as well as wingers Alex Johnston, Mikaele Ravalawa and Tyrone Munro to hamstring and collarbone injuries. Latrell Mitchell didn’t play on Saturday due to suspension.
Gray dropped to the soggy Suncorp Stadium field after what appeared an innocuous tackle involving Knights’ back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul and immediately clutched at his right hip.
He tried to run out the injury, with his upper right leg strapped, but exited the game a short time later. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, a NSW Cup winger who required an exemption from the NRL to play first grade earlier this year, finished the game at fullback.
At least the Rabbitohs welcome the return of Mitchell next week for a daunting clash against competition heavyweights Brisbane.
Gray has been Souths’ best this year, and fans will be hoping his discomfort doesn’t last.
The Bunnies struggled for field position early against the Knights, and the only player who posed questions of the Knights’ defence was Gray. South Sydney had wait 20 minutes before they were tackled inside Newcastle’s 20m for the first time.
Mamouzelos clutched an elbow in the dying stages, and almost looks certain to miss game time.
Englishman Lewis Dodd and Jayden Sullivan did their best to lead the team around the park, but the lack of star power around them made things difficult.
The Knights led 18-0 at the break, and went further ahead when Ponga and Bradman Best combined for a long-range try down the left side of the field following the resumption of play.
Newcastle No. 1 Kalyn Ponga was back to his best against Souths.Credit: Getty Images
Questions would have been asked about the future of coach Adam O’Brien had Newcastle failed to defeat Souths, given the amount of experience missing from their line-up.
They had lost their past five games, and their most important player, Ponga, was one of many players struggling for form.
Saturday’s win could spark a fresh lease of life at the Hunter club, who now return home for winnable games against the Gold Coast Titans and the Eels, including their future saviour, Dylan Brown.
Souths coach Wayne Bennett refused to use the talent drain as an excuse before the game.
Had the game gone down to the wire, he could have made a case for why the Knights were awarded a couple of their early tries, including Sharpe’s first of three four-pointers, which had a hint of a double movement. Sharpe was on his back and tackled by Gray and stand-in captain Junior Tatola, only to roll over and plant the ball down.
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