Melbourne Storm’s General Manager – Football, Frank Ponissi, has given an update on the Club’s injured players ahead of Round 9.
Having scored a first half hattrick, Xavier Coates joined the Club’s casualty ward after being taken off prior to halftime after feeling a strain in his hamstring.
“Xav just got a strain to his hamstring, it was a precaution on the weekend that he came off and he got really close for this week but we decided just to rest him this week and hopefully he'll be back for the following week against the Sharks.”
Young half Jonah Pezet unfortunately suffered an ACL injury while playing for the Brisbane Tigers in the HostPlus Cup on the weekend, ruling the young playmaker out for the season.
"Jonah’s undergone surgery this afternoon for a ruptured ACL, terrible news for Jonah as he's been in such great form this year and he’s already played a handful of NRL games and he was no doubt going to play a lot more this year especially during Origin.
“He would have been really valuable for us but he'll have his operation this afternoon and start his rehab in the next few weeks and be ready to come back for next season.”
Tui Kamikamica came close to making his return from a calf injury on the weekend, the Club opting to bring the towering Fijian back for the Club’s next home game against the Sharks.
“He got awfully close this week to playing but he just hasn't done enough training so given the calf injury and the mechanics of the calf we decided that another full week of training and he should definitely be back for the Sharks game.”
Tepai Moeroa and Chris Lewis both picked up injuries a fortnight ago, with both forwards undergoing rehab to try and return to the field.
"It's a bit of an unknown with Tepai and his back so he's just got to rest and recover from it so we'll see how it goes and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later."
"Chris Lewis hurt his knee a couple of weeks ago which has kept him out for the last fortnight but he's coming along really well so he's a chance of playing for the Falcons this week and if not next week.”
