Cronulla are once again being forced to deal with one of their forwards being hospitalised on game eve as prop Jayson Bukuya races the clock to be fit for Saturday’s NRL clash with Parramatta.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan revealed Bukuya was in doubt for the vital game after being placed on a drip.
Several players fell victim to the illness that swept through the Sharks camp during the week but Flanagan said Bukuya was the only player in doubt.
It came after prop Matt Prior rose from his hospital bed to take on Gold Coast last week – a fact the Sharks hid from the press until after the game.
Jokingly asked by journalists whether he secretly had any players in hospital this week, Flanagan replied: “Yeah there is secretly someone in hospital; Jayson Bukuya is in hospital.
“We’ve had a bit of a virus run through the club. He’s in hospital at the moment on a drip, so you’re right.”
Flanagan wouldn’t reveal which other players had been affected and said he considered Bukuya a 50-50 proposition to run onto ANZ Stadium.
“It happens at all clubs players, I’m not sure what it is, sometimes the fitter they are the easier it is to come down with an illness,” Flanagan said.
“He hasn’t eaten for a couple of days and he’s on a drip. We’ll see over the next 24 hours what happens with him.”
Bukuya’s illness is ill-timed for the Sharks, who this week lost Josh Dugan to a foot injury, joining Paul Gallen (knee) and Luke Lewis (calf) in their casualty ward.
But Flanagan declared stand-in skipper Wade Graham as a “definite starter” to take on the Eels after recovering from a hamstring injury.