Big blow for Warriors as NRL says no
The NRL has declined a desperate plea from the Warriors to bring in loan players to cover their injury crisis in the middle of the park where they are beginning to ‘‘run out of stocks’’.
Already depleted by seasonending knee injuries to props Bunty Afoa and Jackson Frei, the Warriors suffered two more critical blows in recent days.
Their most effective prop, Leeson Ah Mau, went down on Friday with a – likely seasonending – ruptured pectoral muscle and Jazz Tevaga also suffered a knee injury on Sunday.
Warriors chief executive Cameron George confirmed yesterday the NRL has turned down an application, over the weekend, to bring loan players from outside of the club into the squad but he is hopeful a second crack at securing a dispensation, in the coming days, will be successful.
‘‘Hopefully common sense will prevail,’’ George said. ‘‘We’ve sort of ran of stocks.’’
Getting turned down by the NRL is a bitter pill to swallow for the Auckland based club which has upped sticks and headed to Australia – unsure how long it will be away from families – to keep the 16-team competition intact.
George had sought reassurances of being able to use players from outside the club before the Warriors flew to Tamworth but was told every case would be judged on its merits.
He stopped short of criticising the NRL’s decision but clearly feels the current injury crisis in the middle deserves a dispensation and said it was not the intention of the club to be stuck in Australia and unable to field suitable players in specialised positions.
The club being afforded the opportunity to bring in an NRL ready prop on loan makes sense for the integrity of the competition to maintain certain standards given the travel restrictions that make it difficult to get a player over from New Zealand, George said.
George, who confirmed the Warriors have been contacted by a couple of NRL clubs willing to help out, also raised the safety aspect given front-row forwards are a specialised position.
Go forward has been the Warriors biggest issue during the
2019 season and their opening two losses in 2020 and having middle forwards who can put them on the front foot will be critical to any success in 2020.
Loan players could come from contracted players from rival NRL clubs or possibly even a player from the Queensland Cup such as Papua New Guinea test prop Luke Page who earlier this year confirmed he was interested in playing for the Warriors in
2020. Redcliffe Dolphins prop Lachlan Timm was reportedly training with the Warriors in Kingscliff before the NRL season was suspended.
‘‘Once we get that position clarified from the NRL then we can start to look at what options are available, if any.’’
In some good news for the club, Tevaga’s knee injury may not be as serious as first thought.
George was unable to provide a timeframe of when Tevaga would be back and the exact prognosis of the knee injury but said the news was looking better than yesterday.
Ah Mau’s absence will be offset by the fit-again Agnatius Paasi who also missed the first two games with an ankle injury.
Warriors centre Gerard Beale confirmed last Tuesday he was ready to go for round three against the Dragons on May 30.