Fit-again Schuster to play in reserves
Manly star Josh Schuster has overcome a horror sequence of injuries to finally be fit but will play reserve grade this weekend.
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold said Schuster would be overlooked when he named his NRL side for the match against the Sydney Roosters at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.
Schuster, who earns around $800,000 a year, has had a difficult off season because of chickenpox then finger and calf injuries.
He could have played for Manly’s feeder club the Blacktown Workers last weekend against South Sydney but club medical staff opted to give him another week’s rest.
Schuster will now play for the Blacktown Workers against the Roosters at Brookvale on Sunday. The match kicks off at 1.45pm.
“He is right to go, he passed his last running session on Saturday,’’ Seibold said.
“But because he hasn’t played any trials and has had a disrupted preparation, we want him to play reserve grade in the back row.
“Josh had a calf injury but before that he had a spiral fracture in his finger and before that he had chickenpox.
“His first (off-season trainthen ing) block over six weeks was outstanding but he got chickenpox just before Christmas and then he broke his finger, which needed an operation, and then he hurt his calf.
“Josh has been ticked off and we were hoping he might have been able to play reserve grade last Saturday but the physios wanted to be conservative.
“He will now get a full week’s training into him and play reserve grade on the weekend. Once he has done that, he will be ready to be considered for round 3. He will train fully (on Tuesday) and then we will get it going.”
Manly had a strong win over Souths in round 1 in Las Vegas and Seibold is unwilling to change the side.
The Sea Eagles will on Tuesday afternoon name their side to face the Roosters.
Back-rowers Haumole Olakau’atu, Ben Trbojevic and brother Jake are to be retained. Ben Trbojevic has been impressive this season.
The match against the Roosters is expected to draw a sellout crowd of 18,000.