St George Illawarra have copped a dual blow at the NRL Nines with fullback Matt Dufty suffering a suspected fractured cheekbone and prop Korbin Sims aggravating a previous arm fracture.
Sims missed a large chunk of the 2019 season with a broken forearm and was taken from the field in Saturday’s Nines semi-final win over Parramatta at HBF Park in Perth.
The 28-year-old, not playing in the final against North Queensland, will be sent for scans.
Earlier, Dufty was taken to hospital with an apparent suspected fractured cheekbone after an ugly collision against Parramatta in the group stages.
The 24-year-old was caught high in a collision and was taken immediately from the field for a head injury assessment as his eye swelled.
The incident happened soon after the kickoff as he chased the restart.
He later discharged himself from hospital to return to the ground to watch his teammates play their finals matches.
If a fracture is confirmed, as expected, he will undergo surgery and face around a month on the sidelines. He will remain in Perth until it is safe to fly back to the east coast.
Meanwhile, North Queensland were without star forward Josh McGuire in the final after he suffered what is believed to be a minor MCL injury against Gold Coast in the semi-finals.
The Wests Tigers have confirmed Paul Momirovski will miss the next two to three weeks with an ankle sprain, suffered on Friday against South Sydney.
Rabbitohs forward Ethan Lowe failed a fitness test on Saturday and did not play after a minor MCL sprain on Friday, while Brisbane star Anthony Milford also sat out day two of the competition with a hamstring complaint.
Meanwhile, St George Illawarra forward Holli Wheeler is facing a long recovery after suffering an ACL tear on Friday against the Broncos.
The 30-year-old Australian and NSW representative twisted her knee in a tackle and was taken from the field on a stretcher.