NRL 2020, round 7 | Sydney Roosters defeat St George Illawarra Dragons despite serious injuries

The Sydney Roosters have been left furious over a horrendous pair of injuries in a dramatic opening half against the Dragons that could change their season.

Roosters Victor Radley is injured during the Sydney Roosters v St George NRL match at Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta. Picture: Brett Costello

The Sydney Roosters have had a horror start to their match against the St George Illawarra Dragons, losing Victor Radley and Sam Verrills to likely season-ending knee injuries.

Immediately the attention turned to the state of the ground with plenty of action at Bankwest Stadium since the game returned, with the 10-all scoreline at the half-time break secondary to the injury chaos.

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But the Roosters came back to claim a fifth straight win with a hard-fought 26-12 win.

With Bankwest, Campbelltown Stadium and Central Coast Stadium hosting all matches in NSW since the game returned attention has turned to the grounds after serious injuries in the Manly-Canberra game last Sunday at Campbelltown.

Looking rather patchy, Bankwest has now come under the microscope with the Roosters reportedly complaining to the ground manager about the ground with the players’ feet getting stuck in the ground but the side denied lodging an official complaint.

ELEVEN games in 22 days. That’s the amount of traffic poor ol’ Bankwest will have copped by Sunday night ...

— christian nicolussi (@mrchrisnico) June 26, 2020

The Eels and Raiders are also due to play at the ground on Saturday night while the Bulldogs and Wests Tigers are due to play on the ground on Sunday.

A Bankwest Stadium spokesperson said: “The stadium turf has been holding up well under a heavy playing schedule. Signs of wear and tear are a result of the winter rye grass not getting sufficient time to grow between events, but pre-game testing indicates the surface is stable and safe.

“Any injuries to players are a concern. The stadium team will work with the NRL and clubs to ensure the best possible surface for each and every game.”

Fox League revealed that there would be an independent ground assessment called for Saturday morning.

Queensland Origin coach Kevin Walters said it was “unfair” to blame the ground and said it was “a pure coincidence”.

Radley and Verrills both went down without being touched with Radley, who many believe was destined for a NSW Blues jersey, rushing up to make a tackle before falling to the ground.

He was quick to clutch his knee with the awkward looking injury looking bad despite walking from the field.

“He’s in some trouble,” Braith Anasta said in commentary. “The Roosters have been on a golden run but this puts a spanner into the works. The first little hiccup in the last month, they’ve been faultless.”

In a lighter moment, Radley stood up to get a jacket after the injury and hit his head on an open cupboard, laughing at the moment.

Victor Radley also smashed his head in a rough night.

Simultaneously, Verrills went down with his injury running up to the line with his knee buckling despite no hands being laid on him.

On first diagnosis, both tore the anterior cruciate ligament in their knees.

“How quickly can a season change,” Anasta said. “Robbo can’t believe it, Craig Fitzgibbon, they’d be devastated.”

Warren Smith said: “I can’t remember seeing a game where two players from the one team have suffered ACL injuries.”

Smith added that there was “no give of the turf, and no one could lay any blame on surface here tonight in either of those situations”.

Along with the Dragons’ Jacob Host also pulling his hamstring pre-match, it’s been a costly night on the injury front.

Late drama for the Dragons. Jacob Host has done his hammy in the warm up, with Korbin Sims coming in. #NRLRoostersDragons

— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) June 26, 2020

Smith said, to which Anasta agreed: “While it is a bit varied in patches, again, I couldn’t attribute anything I saw in regards to the injuries to the playing surface I’ve seen tonight.”

But reports are the players aren’t happy with the surface, while the ground has had an incredible amount of traffic for a three-week period with many pointing to the surface.

@sydneyroosters Have complained to officials about the playing surface even before half time! Could be more ground switches before end of weekend #NRL #NRLRoostersDragons

— Bernie Coen (@berniecoen) June 26, 2020

Injuries. Intent. Playing surface. All factors.

But lay down your weapons @NRL_Dragons fans, you got yourselves a contest. #NRLRoostersDragons

— Tim Barrow (@TheBarrow) June 26, 2020

Sorry to the ground staff at Jubilee. BankWest looks ordinary.

— Ryan Park MP (@RyanPark_Keira) June 26, 2020

Fox League’s Greg Alexander said it was “devastating” for the Roosters as the rare occurence left Sydney reeling.

Similarly, Sam Burgess said “the ground looks like it’s holding up well” but also that it’s human nature to look for someone to blame.

“It’s just such devastating news for the Roosters,” he said. “It’s very hard to say it’s the ground, there are plenty of theories coming up that the players are under done and not underdone, it’s just so unfortunate. They’re two unfortunate injuries, it’s not in contact, just moving their body weight and it’s not a good look. I just feel so sorry for both players and the Roosters.”

Alexander added that he understood why the Roosters complained but found it hard to blame the surface.

“When both players did their knees, there was no shifting of the ground,” he said. “Bankwest is a very slippery stadium and it would have been better if their feet did slip from under them but they jumped, they put pressure and we’ve seen it so many times. It’s just such a rare thing for two players to go down in 40 minutes of football like that.”