- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk is expected to miss 12 weeks of action after breaking his arm in the opening high-intensity moments of the first game of the State of Origin series at Suncorp.
One of the toughest Origin encounters in recent memory took its toll on both the Queensland and New South Wales sides, with many players copping blows and injuries.
Bill Slater will miss up to three weeks of action after suffering a grade-two AC joint sprain to his right shoulder. Storm and Queensland skipper Cameron Smith will miss a week with an ankle sprain.
Cronk suffered his injury in a tackle on NSW second-rower Ryan Hoffman in the 10th minute, and was instantly taken from the field. He was replaced by Daly Cherry-Evans, who suddenly found himself in the action far earlier than what was planned.
Queensland and Cherry-Evans struggled upon him taking on halfback duties, and were unable to capitalise on a mountain of possession in the closing minutes, falling short of the Blues by four points.
Cherry-Evans was limping at the end of the game with a leg injury.
In even worse news for the Melbourne Storm, hooker Cameron Smith appeared to suffer an ankle injury in the second-half of the match. He continued with considerable ankle strapping.
The NSW Blues also suffered injury blows. Brett Morris scored a try to level the game at 4-4 in the 19th minute, and dislocated his shoulder. The winger returned to action after treatment, and made a number of key tackles for the Blues, including a try saver in the dying minutes on two-try hero Darius Boyd.
Captain Paul Gallen also looked to be in some trouble after copping a knock in a tackle, before continuing on. He is battling with a neck injury post-match.
Manly hard-man Anthony Watmough has a bicep injury in the washup, with Josh Morris the biggest casualty for the Blues with a suspected tear of knee ligaments
“We had a truck-load of injuries,” NSW coach Laurie Daley said. “We have blokes that courageously battled away and should have come off but stayed out there because we needed them to.
“They dug deep. We’ve talked about about Origin and digging deep and they showed it tonight in truck-loads.
“For the boys to do what they did under those conditions, I’m one extremely happy coach and I’m certain the whole state would be happy,” he said.
“And I think this win would have united us like never before.”
[roar_cat_gal]
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.