- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
A possible fairytale return to State of Origin could be over before it began for Peter Wallace after the Penrith veteran picked up a groin injury in his team’s win over Newcastle on Sunday.
Wallace was tipped to be the major change to Blues coach Laurie Daley’s team for game one when it gets unveiled on Monday night, replacing vice-captain Robbie Farah.
However less than 24 hours before the Blues’ announcement at The Star, Wallace lasted just 10 minutes before succumbing to a groin injury at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The 31-year-old, who played the last of his four Origin games with a ruptured testicle in 2009, will undergo scans on Monday to reveal the extent of the damage.
However the injury is all but certain to prevent him from participating in the Blues camp at their new training base in Kingscliff, which begins on Tuesday.
Wallace’s likely withdrawal means Daley will now have to decide on whether to give Farah another chance, or hand Gold Coast rake Nathan Peats an Origin debut.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin was hopeful the prognosis would be positive for Wallace.
“He’s got a groin problem at the moment. He just couldn’t stretch out, so we’ll have to it scanned and see what’s happening,” Griffin said.
“He did it in a funny way. He said a bloke was on his back and someone fell on him, it stretched him out and he couldn’t stretch out after that.”
Asked whether it would prevent him from a possible Origin recall, Griffin said: “We’re just going to have it scanned and see what happens. Hopefully for him it’s not too serious.”
Panthers skipper and incumbent Blues five-eighth Matt Moylan said Wallace had played a key part in Penrith’s resurgence as a title force and deserved another crack at Queensland.
“I think he’s a very key part in our team and he’s always out there putting his body on the line working hard. I don’t think he would ever let anyone down,” Moylan said.
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.