Brisbane Broncos winger Jharal Yow Yeh remains in a Perth hospital after suffering an horrific ankle injury in Friday night’s 20-12 NRL victory over South Sydney.
Yow Yeh suffered a suspected broken ankle and had a bone pierce through his skin after landing awkwardly in a first-half attempt to snare a high ball.
The 22-year-old spent the night in hospital, and may be forced to remain in Perth for a while longer as he undergoes further assessment.
The Broncos flew back to Brisbane on Friday night, but club doctor Peter Hackney and general manager of football operations Andrew Gee remained behind to assist Yow Yeh.
Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin said it was too early to tell when Yow Yeh would be able to play again.
“I’m not sure timeframe wise what it means,” Griffin said.
“I don’t think it’s going to threaten his long-term career but he’s obviously going to be on the sidelines for some time.
“We’ve got (Dale) Copley and (Dane) Gagai there so one of those guys will probably get a start out of it.”
Broncos skipper Sam Thaiday and star centre Justin Hodges comforted Yow Yeh while the young winger received on-field treatment.
Thaiday said it was difficult to see his teammate go through so much pain.
“He’s laying there with his bone sticking outside of his boot,” Thaiday said.
“He was in a lot of pain there.
“Hodgo and I were just trying to encourage him as much as we could.
“The first thing that goes through your head when you get injured is your footy, and then your career and season.
“He was asking questions along the lines of those things.
“We were just reassuring him and making sure that he knew that we were there for him and supporting him.”
Yow Yeh enjoyed a breakout campaign last year, making his State of Origin debut for Queensland and notching three Tests for Australia.
Thaiday was confident Yow Yeh would be able to recapture his best form once he overcame the ankle injury.
“The beauty of it is that he’s still young, he’s still got a lot of time to come back from this and we’re expecting him back,” Thaiday said.
The Broncos trailed 12-0 at the time of Yow Yeh’s injury, but piled on 20 unanswered points to run away with their third win of the season in front of 15,599 fans at Perth’s nib Stadium.
Griffin described it as a “special” win, but South Sydney coach Michael Maguire cut a dejected figure after watching his team let another winning position slip through their grasp.
“I feel for the players,” Maguire said.
“They’re the ones out there doing the hard work and they’re training really well.
“We’ve just got to keep persisting with the things that we’ve been practicing.
“It will come.”
