They may be sitting second on the NRL ladder but news John Sutton could be sidelined for up to four weeks with a badly sprained ankle has compounded a difficult three days for South Sydney.
Already without Greg Inglis due to a posterior cruciate ligament injury, the loss of five-eighth Sutton is a big blow for the Rabbitohs, who’ve lost two of their last three games.
They also relinquished their spot at the top of the ladder to bitter rivals Sydney Roosters and next face a resurgent Melbourne on Friday – who they’ve never beaten in the Victorian capital.
It was initially feared Sutton had sustained ankle syndesmosis when he limped off midway through Saturday’s defeat by struggling North Queensland, but the news was better than expected when it came through on Monday morning.
“John will be missed but we know he will manage his injury professionally and our medical team will work with him to have him return to the field as soon as possible in the best shape possible,” coach Michael Maguire said.
“We’ll announce our team tomorrow, but Luke Keary has done a good job coming on as a replacement at five-eighth in recent weeks and we’re confident in his ability to get the job done while John is on the sidelines.”
With a tough run home, the first signs of vulnerability will start to show if Michael Maguire’s side lose heavily to the Storm at AAMI Park.
After the Storm, Souths face third-placed Manly, reigning minor premiers Canterbury and the struggling Wests Tigers, before rounding off the season with a blockbuster against the Roosters.
Melbourne’s astonishing 68-4 win over Canberra on Sunday halted their mini-slump in emphatic fashion to end the Raiders’ unbeaten home record.
However, centre Will Chambers said anyone who writes off Souths should do so at their peril.
“They are still the team to beat at the moment,” Chambers said.
“They’ve had a bad game at the weekend, but you look past that, they’ve still blown a lot of teams off the park.
“They’ve got good go-forward, the Burgess boys, Roy Asotasi, then Jeff Lima comes on. They get on a roll and their halves go well.
“There’s also the likes of Nathan Merritt who is a great strike weapon.”
Melbourne’s big win certainly made the Roosters sit up and take notice but five-eighth James Maloney, a former Melbourne player, was not in the least bit surprised by their performance.
“They’re too good a side to be written off and they’ve shown that time after time,” Maloney said.
“Every time they’re gone they seem to come good and they’ll be playing good football at the right time of the year as they always seem to do.”
