A handful of injuries to emerging stars blighted the weekend’s NRL trials while others put their hand up for round one debuts.
South Sydney back-rower Kyle Turner was hospitalised with a neck injury during the NRL All Stars match while Newcastle’s Jalean Feeney and Pat Mata’utia both suffered serious injuries.
Turner left the cBus Super Stadium field with a neck problem after being hit hard in a tackle by Cronulla captain Paul Gallen.
Gallen has been cleared by the NRL match review panel and will not face further punishment.
Souths coach Michael Maguire said Turner was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital as a precaution and was expected to recover.
“He’s alright,” Maguire said after the Rabbitohs’ trial at Redfern Oval.
“He’s still up (on the Gold Coast), we kept him in hospital overnight just to make sure but from what I’ve been told he should be right.”
Feeney picked up a suspected broken arm and Mata’utia is feared to have broken his leg in the side’s heavy wins over Port Macquarie Sharks and Wauchope Blues.
In the same game, electric Knights winger Jake Mamo put his hand up for a backline spot after scoring back-to-back tries and setting up another.
Newcastle coach Rick Stone put centre Joey Leilua on notice during the week and indicated positions were up for grabs.
While Penrith winger Robert Jennings and his New Zealand opposite number Ken Maumalo also pushed their cases.
Jennings, the brother of Roosters speedster Michael, scored the Panthers’ only try in the side’s 18-4 loss and is in contention to debut with Jamal Idris (back) and Josh Mansour (shoulder) recovering from off-season surgery.
Maumalo scored a brace and will be one of the leading contenders to plug the holes left by the injuries to David Fusitu’a and Glen Fisiiahi.
South Sydney lock Chris Grevsmuhl made a strong case for his NRL debut after scoring the winning try for the Indigenous All Stars.
Glenn Stewart made a strong club debut for South Sydney in the premiers’ 20-20 draw with Northern Pride at Redfern Oval on Saturday night while captain John Sutton had an eventful evening, being sin-binned before setting up a try.
Hymel Hunt impressed for Melbourne in their 44-12 win over Queensland Cup side Easts Tigers.
North Queensland defeated feeder club Townsville Blackhawks 24-12 while Brisbane Broncos lost 34-12 to Queensland Cup side Wynnum Manly.
