Luke Keary waits on match review committee after hit on Felise Kaufusi
The Sydney Roosters will be sweating on the match review committee to clear playmaker Luke Keary after a tackle on Felise Kaufusi that left the Melbourne back-rower with one less dreadlock.
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Luke Keary came into the game under a severe injury cloud. Now the Roosters star will face an anxious wait to see if he will be cleared by the match review committee to line-up in next Sunday’s grand final against Canberra.
Keary’s teammate Zane Tetevano will also be waiting nervously as he faces a potential charge after being placed on report for second half high tackle on Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen. The Roosters will also be sweating on the fitness of veteran back-rower Mitch Aubusson who failed a head injury assessment in the second half.
But Keary could have some cause for concern after a run-in which left Storm back-rower Felise Kaufusi unable to return to the field after failing a concussion test in the 25th minute .
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Rumours swept through this week that Keary was struggling to be fit to play. Keary limped at times throughout the game.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said Keary strained the injury during the game.
“You could see he was limping,” Robinson said. “He got kick pressured and tried to stand..he should’ve gone to ground. He tried to resist against that. He got the sore ankle out of that. He was pretty good after that. He had to work hard to get into that game.
“He was never in a moon boot but it took a lot of time to recover from two weeks ago. Each day we were thinking he would get better. He only trained yesterday for the first time since the game.
“He said he was right. When Luke gets his head on he makes a decision.”
But Keary’s exchanged with Kaufisi could cost more than just the penalty which was blown. Keary was not placed on report but it left Kaufisi staggered. The Storm back-rower had just aggressively fended Keary off only for Keary to come again to try and complete the tackle. In the process he ripped a dreadlock from Kaufisi’s hair before a swinging arm collected the representative back-rower.
The hair pull seemed incidental but that could still attract a minor charge which would result in a fine. But the swinging arm could land Keary in hot water.
A grade one careless high tackle would result in a fine but a grade two charge will have Keary appearing at the judiciary this week fighting to save his season.
Robinson said he believes Keary will be fine.
“If it’s consistent, we are certain he will be playing next week,” Robinson said.
A grade two has a base penalty of 150 points which means Keary would need to beat the charge to play. Even if he is hit with two grade one charges, Keary will be free to play after he coughs up more than $2000 in fines.
Sydney Roosters prop Siosiua Taukeiaho was sin-binned after just 20 seconds following an exchange with Melbourne opposite Nelson Asofa-Solomona who was also binned. Taukeiaho tried but failed to punch Asofa-Solomona who slapped the Roosters prop in the first carry of the game. At worst, Taukeiaho would be hit with a grade one fine but should escape any charge.
The Roosters welcome back prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves next Sunday after he missed the win against the Storm through suspension. Robinson said co-captain Jake Friend was “five minutes” away from playing last night.
Robinson said he would have no hesitation picking Friend despite his extended lay-off and would name him in the 21-man squad.