BRISBANE - and possibly Queensland - have suffered a
significant blow ahead of tonight's important clash against the
Warriors, with Karmichael Hunt ruled out with an ankle injury.
The fullback withdrew from the squad, which is attempting to
prevent a fifth straight defeat, yesterday morning at training
ahead of the Suncorp Stadium encounter. Even though scans on Monday
cleared him of any structural damage, his ankle sprain has not
recovered sufficiently.
"'K' just didn't have the range to be able to run properly and
it was a big risk to try to get 80 minutes out of him after a
five-day turnaround," coach Ivan Henjak said.
Hunt's place will be taken by promising youngster Josh Hoffman
as centre Justin Hodges makes his timely return from a knee
injury.
Tonie Carroll, who came out of retirement this week to help the
Broncos, has been named on the bench. Broncos coach Ivan Henjak
said he only hoped to get 30 minutes out of the 33-year-old.
But Warriors skipper Steve Price said he suspected
Carroll might start. "I don't know how Ivan is going to play him,
but you would think he would start him," said Price, a former
Queensland teammate of Carroll's. "Just to let him get out there
and get rid of the nerves straight up, see how long he can go and
then replace him."
Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei remains in doubt with a hamstring
injury. Coach Ivan Cleary has Patrick Ah Van and Russell Packer on
standby.
Both the Roosters and St George Illawarra are
expected to be as named for their clash at the Jubilee Stadium
tonight.
Souths coach Jason Taylor said hooker Craig Wing was
"looking good" to make his return from a hamstring injury against
Wests Tigers tomorrow night. The Tigers' English import,
Gareth Ellis, has a virus, but he is not considered to be in
doubt.
Newcastle's Kurt Gidley and Steve Simpson failed to train
yesterday due to a virus, while centre Adam MacDougall (knee) is
also in doubt to face Melbourne away tomorrow. Shannon McDonnell
trained at fullback, while Cory Paterson is a chance of playing his
first match since revealing he has bipolar disorder if Simpson
fails to recover in time. Wes Naiqama will start if MacDougall is
ruled out. Sione Tovo and Joel Edwards have also been training with
the top squad.
Melbourne officials say it is unlikely forward Matt Cross
(hamstring) will make his return.
North Queensland trio Matt Bowen (ribs), Luke O'Donnell
(knee) and Carl Webb (ankle) are all expected to play against
Cronulla after training strongly yesterday. O'Donnell will play his
100th NRL match for the Cowboys if he plays, along with half
Johnathan Thurston.
The Sharks are expected to be as named.
Gold Coast have lost both five-eighth Mat Rogers (ribs)
and interchange forward Aaron Cannings (hamstring) for their away
clash with Canberra on Sunday. Will Zillman will be again promoted
to fullback, with Preston Campbell taking Rogers's spot at No.6.
David Mead, Sam Tagataese and Bodene Thompson are in line to take
the vacant bench positions.
The Raiders are expected to be as named.
Ben Smith has been added to the Parramatta squad as 18th
man, although coach Daniel Anderson said there were no injury
concerns for the Eels' clash at Penrith. Panthers coach
Matthew Elliott said his squad would be "1 to 17".
Manly coach Des Hasler said a number of his players had
the flu, however, he expected them to play on Monday night against
the Bulldogs. Hasler said fullback Brett Stewart was no chance of
making an early return from a knee injury.
Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said his squad was "all good"
for their away clash.
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