Blackhawks battle mounting injury toll in fourth-straight loss

THE injury toll is mounting on the Blackhawks, but coach Aaron Payne has refused to let his side fall back on the tired excuse after the club slipped to a fourth-straight defeat for the first time in franchise history.

The Blackhawks were down to their final 17 men for the trip to Redcliffe, and that was reduced to 14 by fulltime with Sam Martin-Savage, Shaun

Nona and Tom Hancock succumbing to injury.

Despite the reshuffle, the Blackhawks fought valiantly to come from behind in the second half and snatch the lead in the final 15 minutes after a try to Carlin Anderson. But they couldn’t hold on, as Dolphins winger Setu Tu flew across in the corner to seal a 26-24 victory for the home side.

Payne could not fault the effort of his maligned troops, but he was stinging in his appraisal of their performance.

“The last four weeks of losses, I can commend them on their effort and their bravery,” Payne said.

“We had horrible injury toll again, we had one left on the bench and guys out of position at the end of the game.

“But if I went down that path again not much will change. All the effort in the world does not substitute for winning games of footy.

“We are making poor defensive decisions with guys clocking off and that is not through fatigue. That is four weeks in a row that we have scored enough points to win the game, three of those where we led late in the game.

“There is a bit of a soft underbelly to us at the moment and it is hurting us.”

Payne said the problems appeared to be more around the mentality of the Blackhawks and getting the players to focus on the task at hand.

The coach gave an honest appraisal of the side following their loss to the Dolphins and demanded senior players take accountability for the side.

Martin-Savage has remained in Brisbane to seek further medical treatment on what is understood to be a fractured cheek bone. The injury is likely to require surgery.

It was a tough way to finish for the 24-year-old former Panthers junior who was in his third ISC game. Hancock is also expected to require surgery on a suspected torn pectoral muscle while Nona hobbled off the field late in the game with a torn hamstring.

They join a growing casualty ward that includes Josh Hoffman, Pat Kaufusi, Josh Chudleigh, Kieran Quabba and young gun Riley Price.