Tigers forward Sue out of clash with Manly

Wests Tigers forward Sauaso Sue has been ruled out of Friday night’s NRL clash with Manly after injuring his shoulder in last week’s upset win over South Sydney.

Winger Kevin Naiqama and veteran rake Dene Halatau also picked up minor injuries but should recover in time to take on the Sea Eagles.

Sue’s injury has put a dampener on the club’s breakthrough victory which ended a four-game losing streak.

“Jesse’s been real good for us, especially in our go-forward and in defence. He’s having a big year this year and he’s been with me in rehab. He’s doing all he can to get on the field,” teammate Kevin Naiqama said on Monday.

Naiqama strained his hamstring in the first half but finished the match and is confident of taking his place on Friday night.

“I was probably at about 75-80 per cent towards the end of the first half and most of the second half,” he said.

“But we already had (Halatau) out at the start of the game.

“I knew I could finish the game, I would just be limited in what I could do.

“I told the coach that I was able to go back on and I could finish the game. And they let me go on and luckily for us we went on and got the job done.”

The win over the Rabbitohs is a shot in the arm for a Tigers side that hadn’t tasted a win since April and had struggled in the absence of skipper Robbie Farah.

Naiqama said the two points was just reward for an unlucky string of outs that included three losses by ten points or less.

“It was awesome to get the win. It was a long time coming,” he said.

“Every game we’ve always been in it. We’ve been training hard and it was only just a matter of time before we got paid for the hard work.”

Both Farah and NSW teammate Aaron Woods are expected to be named to back up by coach Jason Taylor after Wednesday night’s Origin II in Melbourne.

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