NRL 2020: Sea Eagles likely to be without Martin Taupau; headaches expected to keep him sidelined
NRL concussion protocols will decide Martin Taupau’s fate — with headaches persisting for the Sea Eagles enforcer following the Jack Hetherington hit — but there are positives elsewhere on Manly’s injury front.
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It is a lottery at Lottoland when it comes to injuries.
Desperate Manly hopes to have two stars return from injury this weekend, two more remain in doubt through concussion, while another will now be missing for a month.
And the return date of superstar Tommy Trbojevic remains clouded.
In a much-needed lift, Sea Eagles second-rowers Curtis Sironen (knee) and Joel Thompson (ankle) are expected to be back for Sunday’s big match against Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The pair missed Manly’s 26-20 loss to the Warriors at Brookvale last Friday night.
Sea Eagles prop Marty Taupau remains in doubt after being badly concussed in a high tackle which resulted in New Zealand’s Jack Hetherington being suspended for four games.
Taupau is likely to be named when Manly coach Des Hasler releases his side on Tuesday at 4pm but will be required to pass NRL concussion protocols to play.
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Manly’s long turnaround will assist Taupau’s bid to return.
Centre Brad Parker also missed the Warriors game with a concussion he suffered against Penrith the previous week but should be cleared for the Newcastle game.
However, Manly prop Addin Fonua-Blake is expected to miss up to a month of football with an ankle injury he sustained against New Zealand.
Manly hopes to have Fonua-Blake back playing earlier but is bracing for him to return just two games before the finals.
Trbojevic will have follow-up scans this week to determine when he can increase his training and running workloads. It was hoped he would return in round 15 but that could be optimistic.
“Unfortunately for Addin, he has a high-grade PCL injury. Typically, that means he will be out for at least a month,” Sea Eagles head physiotherapist James Rahme said.
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“Marty walked off the field, which is always a good sign for a concussion. He has to go through the NRL’s strict guidelines for concussion protocols. If he passes all those steps then he will be right to play. We will assess him day-to-day.
“Tommy is progressing well. We are coming up to a follow-up scan which will indicate whether he has the integrity in the hamstring to go to the next level. If not, it means we will have to wait .We will find out this week.
“Brad ticked all the boxes he needed to tick and we have more time now. He’s already looking in better shape this week. It’s promising.”
Five-eighth Dylan Walker is recovering from a fractured foot and isn’t expected back for another five games.
NRL’S UNFAIR ADVANTAGE CONTINUES TO BE EXPOSED
The race for this year’s NRL title has turned into a survival of the fittest, but some unfair advantages have exposed why not every team gets an equal opportunity in 2020.
And as a mounting injury crisis grows, a leading expert has revealed why “major injuries” can be directly traced back to clubs struggling to cope with changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
NRL physio Brien Seeney says while overall injuries are slightly down this year, the number of injuries sidelining players for five weeks or more have dramatically almost doubled.
In fact, they have jumped from 3.97 per round in 2018 to 6.64 per round this year.
The Roosters have their own dramas with no fewer than nine players missing last Thursday’s win over St George Illawarra.
Manly’s Addin Fonua-Blake also suffered a knee injury on the weekend as the Sea Eagles’ season goes from bad to worse, while Canberra copped another blow with Sivila Havili’s tricep injury.
Yes, injuries have to be factored in every year.
But this year the 18-uninterrupted rounds on top of all the other changes has just turned it into an ironman event, with no byes because of the post-season State of Origin only adding to the strain as we count down to the finals.
And while no one is questioning the mighty job the NRL has done to get the comp back up and keep it going, there is no disputing it has come at a hefty cost to player health and injury management.
There are also some huge unfair advantages, specifically those relating to travel.
For instance, just look at weekend rivals Penrith and Canberra as a classic example.
The Raiders have now racked up close to 70 hours of travel time this season, with 10 of 13 games requiring long haul trips either by road or plane.
That compares to competition frontrunners who have had just one game outside of Sydney all season against Gold Coast.
After that, the Panthers’ other ‘big’ trip was to Lottoland to play Manly, a distance of 76km. They also had three games at Kogarah, 65km.
It hardly rates when you consider Canberra basically has a six-hour road trip every time they play in Sydney given they can’t stay at a hotel on the night before or after - and what is rarely factored in is that this also impacts prehab and rehab for players.
Instead of a player being able to ice and get expert post-match rest and medical treatment, they have to hit the road and deal with it as best they can.
While Ivan Cleary was complaining about a couple of questionable calls that went against Penrith following Saturday’s win, the Canberra players were preparing to board the bus for another long haul back to the nation’s capital.
It kind of puts things in perspective.
While everyone understands there was little anyone could do to make it completely fair to all clubs, that doesn’t deny some clubs have been hugely disadvantaged.
Although there are extenuating circumstances affecting every club to a degree.
Newcastle has also had a stack of travel after home games were transferred to Gosford for a period, and the Knights were missing eight regulars in their smashing win over Wests Tigers on Saturday.
Manly has also been severely bashed up with powerhouse prop Addin Fonua-Blake (knee) now expected to miss a couple of weeks, while big Marty Taupau is in doubt after copping a sickening stiff arm by young Jack Hetherington.
Des Hasler says injuries are not an excuse but there is just no denying not having Tom Trbojevic (hamstring) and Dylan Walker (foot) for so long has absolutely cruelled their season.
Against the Dragons the Roosters injury list included Josh and Brett Morris (calf and back), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (calf), Boyd Cordner (concussion), Angus Crichton (knee), Daniel Tupou (ankle), Victor Radley (knee), Sam Verrills (knee) and Billy Smith (knee).
Of those, Radley, Verrills and Smith are gone for the season and Tupou and Crichton could still be weeks away.
The poor old Warriors are the other club that has been smashed, their predicament made worse by a stack of withdrawals caused by personal family reasons associated with being relocated from New Zealand to Terrigal.
Originally published as NRL 2020: Sea Eagles likely to be without Martin Taupau; headaches expected to keep him sidelined