Viliame Kikau injured as Penrith down South Sydney 28-8 in John Sutton’s testimonial

Penrith smashed South Sydney 28-8 in John Sutton’s testimonial but the victory was soured by a knee injury to Fijian force Viliame Kikau.

At least Kikau shouldn’t be out of action for too long. (Gregg Porteous)

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Penrith’s trial clash with South Sydney ended in disaster for the Panthers after star forward Viliame Kikau was carried from the field in just the first set of the match.

The Fijian international, one of Penrith’s up and coming stars, was assisted off with a knee injury barely a minute into the club’s 28-8 win over South Sydney.

Kikau will go for scans on Monday after he was bent back awkwardly in a tackle by three Rabbitohs defenders.

Losing the strike backrower would be a serious blow to Ivan Cleary’s early season plans after the 23-year old emerged as one of the game’s brightest forward prospects.

At least Kikau shouldn’t be out of action for too long. (Gregg Porteous)

BIG BILL GOES DOWN

Kikau watched the second half in a knee brace after going down early and with a suspected Grad 1-2 medial ligament injury.

His expected recovery time is two to six weeks, which means at worst he would miss the opening three rounds.

“He looks like he’s damaged his medial but I don’t think it’s too bad,” Penrith coach Ivan Cleary said.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.

“He’s had a great a pre-season. It’s not going to be too bad. Unfortunately we often get someone injured in these games.”

Sione Katoa was a constant danger. (Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

KATOA PUTS HIS HAND UP

Sione Katoa made every post a winner in his battle with promising youngster Wayde Egan to win the starting hooking role for Penrith.

Katoa scored the game’s opening try with a sharp foray from dummy half and showed some deft touches in attack.

He also managed to grind his way through 60 straight minutes to start the match, proving he can handle the heavier workload if required.

Beating out Egan won’t be easy — the Lithgow junior had some nice moments of his own, setting up a try to Paea Pua with a sharp grubber.

The outcome of the Sam Burgess experiment wasn’t clear. (Mark Evans/Getty Images)

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Depending on the imminent recruitment of North Queensland’s Ethan Lowe Rabbitohs talisman Sam Burgess may not stay at second row for long but he showed that, if required, he can be dangerous out wide.

South Sydney didn’t have a whole lot of good ball when Burgess was on the field but his size, power and mobility can make him a serious weapon.

Whether the attacking dimension is worth the loss of Burgess’s typically excellent work in the middle of the field remains to be seen.

ALLAN NEEDS TIME

Corey Allan is one of the top prospects in the league but it was a tough opening stint in Rabbitohs colours for the willowy fullback.

Allan started out on the wing but switched to fullback midway through the first half. He ran well but struggled to inject himself into the attack at times, which is to be expected with the lack of combinations this early in the season.

Most of South Sydney’s first-stringers only played the opening quarter with new coach Wayne Bennett focusing on next week’s Charity Shield against St George Illawarra in Mudgee.

Originally published as Viliame Kikau injured as Penrith down South Sydney 28-8 in John Sutton’s testimonial