Injuries - and losses - mount as Rabbitohs suffer at hands of Knights

There are fears Jye Gray and Peter Mamouzelos could join South Sydney’s bulging casualty ward after a horror Magic Round outing for the Rabbitohs.

Gray hobbled from the field with a corked quad – the same injury he suffered eight days earlier – midway through the second half as the Bunnies crashed to a 30-4 loss against Newcastle.

Then in the final minute, dummy-half Mamouzelos suffered a dislocated elbow as he tried to tackle Knights prop Leo Thompson. South Sydney medical staff were struggling to put the elbow back into place after full-time. Mamouzelos was screaming in agony and was administered a pain-killing whistle to help him deal with the pain.

Coach Wayne Bennett said he was unsure if Gray would be available next week against the Broncos – but insisted the fresh blows were also no excuse for the poor showing.He was more upset with the attitude of his players.

Jye Gray receives attention from a South Sydney trainerCredit: Getty Images

“One has a cork, the other boy has a dislocated elbow, and they can’t get it back in right now,” Bennett said.

“He’s in a fair bit of pain actually. It’s the NRL, nobody will give you compensation [for the mass injury toll].

“I don’t want the players to use it as an excuse. They all get well paid, they all think they want to be first-graders, well, they have to play like first-graders. It’s as simple as that.

“With nine NRL players missing today, I assume our depth is under a lot of pressure.”

An already patched-up Bunnies side was always going to struggle against a Kalyn Ponga and Fletcher Sharpe-inspired Newcastle. The defeat was their fourth in a row.

Souths lost Jack Wighton during the week to a calf injury, and were already missing skipper Cam Murray (Achilles), Cody Walker (calf) and Jamie Humphreys (hamstring), as well as wingers Alex Johnston, Mikaele Ravalawa and Tyrone Munro to hamstring and collarbone injuries. Latrell Mitchell didn’t play on Saturday due to suspension.

Peter Mamouzelos is attended to by Rabbitohs training staff on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

Gray dropped to the soggy Suncorp Stadium field after what appeared an innocuous tackle involving Knights’ back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul and immediately clutched at his quad.

He tried to run out the injury, with his upper right leg strapped, but exited the game a short time later. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, a NSW Cup winger who required an exemption from the NRL to play first grade earlier this year, finished the game at fullback.

At least the Rabbitohs welcome the return of Mitchell next week for a clash against competition heavyweights Brisbane. Halfback Humphreys is also an outside hope of playing.

Gray has been Souths’ best player this year, and fans will be hoping his discomfort doesn’t last.

The Bunnies struggled for field position early against the Knights, and the only player who posed questions to the Knights’ defence was Gray. South Sydney had to wait 20 minutes before they were tackled inside Newcastle’s 20m area for the first time.

Englishman Lewis Dodd and Jayden Sullivan did their best to lead the team around the park, but the lack of star power around them made things difficult.

The Knights led 18-0 at the break, and went further ahead when Ponga and Bradman Best combined for a long-range try down the left side of the field following the resumption of play.

Questions would have been asked about the future of coach Adam O’Brien had Newcastle failed to defeat Souths, given the experience missing from their line-up. When asked if he felt relieved after the win, O’Brien said: “It’s one game. I’m used to it [the speculation about his job], I’ve been here five years, and it’s happened every year. I don’t want it, it doesn’t help worrying, we know what works for us, and we work our way out of it.”

Newcastle No. 1 Kalyn Ponga was back to his best against Souths.Credit: Getty Images

The Knights had lost their past five games, and their most important player, Ponga, was one of many players struggling for form.

Saturday’s win could spark a fresh lease of life at the Hunter club, who now return home for winnable games against the Gold Coast Titans and the Eels, including their future saviour, Dylan Brown.

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.