Joey Manu is no guarantee to return from a facial fracture for round one of the NRL season, while Joseph Suaali’i lasted just 18 minutes for the Roosters on Friday night in his only trial run in the centres due to a head knock.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson revealed after the 28-16 loss to Manly that Luke Keary (jaw), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (back) and Sam Walker (COVID-19) would all be on deck for the historic clash against newcomers the Dolphins in round one.
However, Robinson said Manu was “touch and go” as he continues to recover from a facial injury he suffered during an opposed session in New Zealand at the start of the month.
The Kiwi international required three metal plates and 12 bolts to repair his face following a sickening collision with Latrell Mitchell at the end of the 2021 season, and news of the latest injury naturally caused plenty of concern among Roosters fans.
“He’s not definitely back,” said Robinson, when asked about Manu’s prospects for round one. “Four weeks will be round one from when he did it. But 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 one.
Joseph Suaali’i leaves the field on Friday night after taking a knock to the head.Credit:Getty
“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.”
Should Manu be unavailable, the Roosters will need to switch their attack to the left and hope for Suaali’i to shine on the back of limited trial time. He failed a head injury assessment against Manly, but was in good spirits in the Central Coast sheds afterwards.
“He is OK. I saw him briefly after the game and asked him how he was [and] he said, ‘sweet’, but he couldn’t return,” Robinson said.
“He’s been going great out there at left centre [in training], but we got to see all [of 18 minutes] tonight.
“It would have been great to see him get more time there last week and this week, but he’s looked very comfortable in the pre-season. We have to do it against an opposition now.
Joey Manu suffered a horror facial injury against the Rabbitohs in 2021.Credit:Getty
“He’s had to learn some different traits there. Obviously playing on the right side [in recent years], 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.”
Robinson said Waerea-Hargreaves could have trialled against the Sea Eagles, but “didn’t have the miles on the legs”, while Keary had skipped the pre-season challenge because of a knock to the jaw, not concussion.
“We have time at the moment, and if we rush it back, we don’t want to extend that time off,” the coach said. “We’re taking it slow to start with because we can to make sure he’s right for round one.
“He got a knock on the jaw. It’s just making sure we take our time and it [the recovery time] doesn’t turn into multiple weeks.”
Many good judges have tipped the Roosters to go all the way in 2023, but they were poor for most of the night against Manly, at one stage trailing 26-0. The head knocks and setbacks to key personnel have not helped.
“We need to get the basics of the game sorted first,” Robinson said. “We looked disjointed in our combination of middle and edges, and we need to improve that. We want to play better than the way we played tonight.”
Meanwhile, Roosters chief executive Joe Kelly was on Friday voted in to become one of four directors on the NSWRL board.
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