[ad_1]
Adam O’Brien will struggle to name 21 healthy Knights to face the Gold Coast next Saturday after losing playmakers Mitchell Pearce, Kurt Mann and Tex Hoy to injuries in a resounding 22-13 loss to St George Illawarra in McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
Pearce, who played his 300th NRL game seven days earlier, could be out for several months after leaving the field in tears in the 25th minute over a suspected pectoral muscle tear.
Hoy is expected to miss up to four games with a hamstring tear and Mann suffered a severe concussion and is unlikely to play against the Titans.
Former Australian and New South Wales executor David Klemmer, who was reported for two incidents in the first half, will have scans of a knee injury sustained in the 60th minute.
Newcastle’s casualty room already included Kalyn Ponga (shoulder), Bradman Best (elbow), Edrick Lee (foot) and Lachlan Fitzgibbon (shoulder), although O’Brien hopes to welcome Ponga next Saturday.
Blake Green, returning from a knee reconstruction, played the final 30 minutes against the Dragons while O’Brien resisted the urge to play with him longer despite Pearce’s injury.
Phoenix Crossland, who are in fifth-eighth place, are also out with a knee injury and teenage center Dominic Young suffered a knee injury in Newcastle’s NSW Cup match on Sunday.
“I just had that conversation at the time. I don’t think I can name 21 [on Tuesday]”O’Brien said devastated and shocked.
Match Highlights: Knights v Dragons
“Naming the team will probably be a big hurdle this week.”
O’Brien said Pearce will undergo scans Monday to determine damage from the left-sided pectoral muscle injury he sustained when he was caught to tackle St George Illawarra’s rower, Tariq Sims.
In his first season at Newcastle in 2018, Pearce was offside for nine games after breaking his right-sided pectoral muscle playing the Wests Tigers in April. If the scans reveal a rupture, rather than a partial tear, Pearce is unlikely to return this season, but O’Brien hopes for better news.
“It will have scans, it’s the other one that was done previously, but they don’t look good at this stage,” O’Brien said.
Ponga met with his shoulder surgeon last week and came close to playing the Dragons, but O’Brien said he resisted that temptation and erred on the side of caution.
“We have hope for KP [against the Titans] but if he is not right, he is not right. I won’t rush it, “said the coach.
“We are in the fourth round, and tonight is a slaughter for us, so I don’t need to add anything else by making hasty decisions now.”
Shibasaki is there while Ramsey throws the kick
When Pearce left the field, O’Brien used Mann and Connor Watson in the halves to stick to his original plan of getting Green back in match play, but without Hoy after the break, the coach had no choice but to put Green on. in the game. .
“I didn’t expect that to happen, but it was about doing the right thing for Blake and not pushing him too soon,” he said.
“At the end of the day the surgeon had marked it … but we just thought about Greeny’s confidence, it was the right thing to do and we stuck to the plan, but unfortunately Tex went to break and Kurt went right after. So we lost 7 6 and 1 practically [after] halftime.”
Under normal circumstances, Klemmer would likely have been replaced after grabbing his knee when Sims tackled him in the 60th minute, but O’Brien had few other options.
Sims charges a green kick and has a double
“He hurt his knee, but he had to stay there because we had no one left. I think we had one on the bench for the entire second half,” he said.
The Knights led 7-6 at halftime and 13-6 when prop Josh King crashed to score eight minutes in the second half but, with their playmakers sidelined and their forwards besieged by a determined and aggressive pack of Dragons. , they never looked. how to protect your advantage.
O’Brien said he couldn’t blame her courage or commitment and encouraged her followers to keep the faith even though the immediate future looked so bleak.
“I think our members, sponsors and fans can leave disappointed with the score, but I don’t think one can leave with the character shown by the team,” he said.
“I’ve seen teams defeated by 40 and 50 this weekend that haven’t been through the resistance that team just went through, so I’m proud of them.
“They have heart, they have character, and that will keep us in a good position in the long run. We will recover injured players, but the foundation of a long-term soccer team should be digging and having a look no matter what goes into. you against.
“That is what this city is about and that is what this soccer team is about.”
Sims launches into a Clune pass
Newcastle’s last chance came and went when Hymel Hunt landed in the corner in the 75th minute only for the try to be called back because Mitch Barnett’s last pass was called forward.
Sims scored two attempts against his former club, the second of which came from his second kicking shot of the game.
Dismissed as wooden spoon contenders by experts and bettors alike during preseason predictions, the Dragons have won three straight games since losing their first game to Cronulla.
