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Your say – who wins tonight?
Injury fallout from last night’s game
By Dan Walsh
Melbourne have lost Dally M halfback Jahrome Hughes to a broken hand as the Storm and Panthers count the cost of a brutal grand final rematch that has also ruled Nathan Cleary out of next week’s clash against South Sydney.
Scans on Friday confirmed that Hughes played at least the second half with a hand fracture that requires surgery and will rule him out for the next two weeks.
He joins Nick Meaney on the sidelines after the centre sustained a fractured cheekbone in a heavy collision with teammate Nelson Asofa-Solomona, who is also out of next week’s clash with the Dragons after failing a subsequent HIA.
Cleary and Hughes stopped the show after just seven minutes in Melbourne’s thrilling 30-24 win on Thursday night when the champion halfbacks collided heavily in pursuit of an early kick.
Both playmakers stayed down afterwards, though it’s believed Hughes broke his hand at another point in the first half and played on for 50-60 minutes with the fracture. Cleary came off worse from the spectacular impact that sent him flying into the air and landing heavily on his head.
Your say – who wins tonight?
Storm, Panthers play out another cracker
We’ve already had one game this one round and it was a beauty, even with superstar halfback Nathan Cleary leaving the field inside the first 10 minutes. Melbourne were expected to win it, and they did, but Penrith made them work for it – even with an inexperienced and makeshift halves combination.
Check out the best of last night’s action.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Friday night footy for round three of the NRL season.
Tonight at 6pm (AEDT) two of last week’s shock winners go head-to-head, with the Warriors and Roosters facing off after notching big bounce-back wins in round two.
The Warriors recovered from a 30-8 flogging against Canberra in Las Vegas by thumping Manly 36-16 in Auckland, while the Roosters were mauled 50-14 by Brisbane in the opening round then stunned reigning premiers Penrith (and the bookies) with a 38-32 win on Friday.
The bookmakers have this one dead even, with the Warriors enjoying home ground advantage once more.
Then at 8pm it’s an all-Queensland battle as the Broncos go up against the Cowboys, with both teams looking to rebound from disappointing defeats last week. Stay tuned for all the details and highlights as they happen.
Roosters star Angus Crichton.Credit: Getty
