Brawl breaks out after sickening Lachlan Ilias NSW Cup injury

The young Rabbitoh looks set for an extended stint on the sidelines after his sickening injury sparked a brawl.

Lachlan Ilias suffers a sickening injury.

There are fears Lachlan Ilias has suffered a broken leg after the South Sydney halfback was carried from the field after a shocking tackle in the NSW Cup that saw Warriors hooker Freddy Lussick sent off with seconds left on the clock.

Playing reserve grade for the third week in a row, Ilias was putting in a kick near midfield on what would have been the last play of the game when Lussick rushed out of the line to charge it down, but caught the halfback instead.

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Ilias was writhing in pain with players from both teams coming together, which saw Moala Graham-Taufa sent to the sin bin for throwing a punch.

The South Sydney halfback was helped from the ground by a teammate and a member of the club’s medical staff, with Ilias leaving the field on crutches with his right foot elevated.

“Horrible for Lachy Ilias and for South Sydney,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League.

“The last play of the game, trying to put a kick in and was rushed by Freddy Lussick.

“I’m sure his ankle made contact with Lussick’s lower knee, I could hear the snap and I was 30 metres away.

“We don’t want to put a time frame on his return, but a broken leg is six-plus weeks easy.

“Depending on the severity of the fracture he could be out for longer.”

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou went up the tunnel with Ilias, who scored the try that put the Bunnies up 26-20 as they held on to beat the Warriors at Accor Stadium.

“I think they’re talking about a tibia fracture, so he’ll obviously have to get scans and we’ll know more about it,” Demetriou said, with Dean Hawkins set to be the club’s long-term halfback. “It was pretty sad to see.

“I didn’t see the tackle. I was in the change rooms and I’d heard that Lachie had hurt himself so I came out to make sure and to see that he’s all right first and foremost.

“From what I heard, it was ordinary, but I didn’t see it. I’m sure the match review committee will look at it in NSW Cup.”

Ilias now faces a nervous wait to see how long he’ll be sidelined as he battles to win back his NRL starting spot.

Ilias started the season in first grade before being dropped to NSW Cup. Picture: NRL Photos

Warriors coach Andrew Webster also missed the incident and said it was unfortunate that accidents happen on the field.

“The only period I saw was that there were 20 seconds to go so I thought someone was going to have to charge this ball down, otherwise we can’t win the game,” he said.

“That’s when I got up to turn, but the next thing I saw, they were on the ground so I can’t really comment.

“I’ve heard that Freddy was trying to charge the football down, but I’m not across the situation.

“With 20 seconds to go, that’s probably going to have to be your mindset otherwise you’re not going to win the game.”

Ilias in action in a pre-season clash with the Dragons. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

“It is really kicking off here,” the NSW Cup commentator said as the brawl broke out right as the siren sounded.

“In the final play of the game, this could be a huge story here. This could have huge ramifications for the Rabbitohs’ season.”

NRL Physio on X wrote: “Lachlan Ilias off late in NSW Cup with a traumatic leg injury.

“By video main concern for tibia (shin) fracture – can see direct shin contact to defender’s knee + deformity (bend) in lower leg.

“If confirmed would (be) multiple months’ recovery, hope it’s somehow not as bad as it looks.”

Hope lachie Illias is ok!

— Jackson Hastings (@JackoHastings) April 6, 2024

NRL journalist Darcie McDonald also tweeted: “Rabbitohs have confirmed it is a serious leg injury. There are fears he has fractured his tibia but are awaiting scan results.”

There was concern on social media for the 23-year-old, including from Knights halfback Jackson Hastings.

“Hate to see it!” Hastings wrote in a reply to NRL Physio on X. “Hope the young fella is OK.”

“Terrible injury,” added another fan. “Hopefully he recovers. Poor guy.”

“Take care Lachie sending hugs,” added a third.

– with Martin Gabor, NCA Newswire

Originally published as Brawl breaks out after sickening Lachlan Ilias NSW Cup injury