South Sydney forward Keaon Koloamatangi has been playing with a partial tear in his knee, the same injury which has now forced try-scoring record-holder Alex Johnston out of Magic Round in Brisbane.
The Rabbitohs welcome back Latrell Mitchell from a bulging disc in his back for Fridayโs clash against the Dolphins.
But Johnston has been given time off to recover from what club sources, who are not authorised to comment publicly, confirmed was a full tear of his PCL in the back of the knee. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape is his replacement.
Koloamatangi has had his right knee heavily strapped since injuring himself in the win over Canterbury on April 3, and joked Johnston was unable to cope with the same pain.
โHeโs got the same issue as me, Iโm not sure if he is strong enough mentally to play with the injured knee โ heโs a winger,โ Koloamatangi said.
โMaybe heโs different because he needs to sprint more. Iโll be giving it to him [for not playing].
โIโve got a tear in my PCL, the good thing is youโre able to play with it, but itโs pretty painful,โ Koloamatangi said.
โItโs getting better each week. In a perfect world, I need some time off. I canโt needle it because itโs a ligament.
โI feel like Iโve got a 50-year-old knee.
โItโs different to the left knee [I had operated on at the end of last season]. You can play without it [the PCL].โ
Mitchell was almost reduced to tears because of the pain in his back against the Knights in round nine and missed the win over Cronulla. However, in a boost for NSW and the Rabbitohs, he has been named to line up at Suncorp Stadium.
Koloamatangi said the playing group had taken a lot of confidence knowing they could get the job done without Mitchell against the Sharks.
โWins are sweeter when you can do it without your big names,โ he said.
โItโs more of a team effort. We want Latrell there every week. But there was more urgency because we couldnโt just give Latrell the ball if we were down by a few points, and expect him to create some points. Heโs someone who can change a game and win you a game.โ
Cronulla have received a double boost with winger Ronaldo Mulitalo to play his first game of the season against Canterbury on Thursday. Mulitalo ruptured his ACL while on international duty with New Zealand last October. Jesse Ramien (knee) is also back on deck, while Jayden Berrell replaces Blayke Brailey at hooker, with the Sharksโ favouritesโ 139-game streak ending because of concussion.
Jamal Fogarty (groin) is back for Manly, with Joey Walsh relegated to a six-man Sea Eaglesโ bench for their clash with Wests Tigers, who have named Latu Fainu at hooker.
Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds (concussion) will make a timely return for Sundayโs clash with the Warriors, while the Dragons have lost rookie halfback Kade Reed to a hand injury for the next few months.
