On the eve of the NRL finals, Jarome Luai of the Penrith Panthers dislocates his shoulder, dealing a serious blow, and the Parramatta Eels triumph admirably.
Just two weeks before the NRL playoffs, the Panthers were dealt a serious blow when five-eighth Jarome Luai dislocated his shoulder during Parramatta’s 32-18 victory on Thursday night.
A sold-out Panthers stadium with 21,525 spectators was silenced by the Eels thanks to four tries from Maiko Sivo, including a hat-trick in the first half. Two scores from Clint Gutherson each side of halftime also contributed.
All four of the Panthers’ scores—Tyrone Peachy, Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin, and Tom Jenkins—came in the final quarter of an hour, so they were merely consolation for the Panthers.
But Luai’s availability for finals will be the Panthers’ biggest worry.
In an attempt to dive over and score a try, Luai fell awkwardly on his outstretched left arm. Bryce Cartwright of the Eels tackled him to help him cross the line.
The five-eighth exited the field right away, and even though Fox Sports stated that the shoulder had been returned to the locker room, the 28-year-old’s availability for the remainder of the regular season will be in question with the finals beginning in two weeks.
Ivan Cleary, the Panthers’ coach, called the injury “decent” and declined to comment on its severity until his playmaker had undergone scans, but he did say that the training staff was “fairly optimistic about the potential of it.”
Tomorrow, we’ll learn a little more, he said.
“This time of year, especially around and around finals, there are sometimes many injuries.
“Whatever happens we’ll come up with a plan from there.”
With Luai not on the field until the very end of the game, the Panthers looked completely out of their depth in attack and were easily picked off in defence. However, rested fullback Dylan Edwards will return to help the squad.
To be honest, it’s very embarrassing, Nathan Cleary fumed to ABC Sport.
We haven’t given a performance like that in a while, I’m afraid.
When things weren’t going well tonight, we simply didn’t win enough games. We didn’t exhibit enough tenacity.
However, Parramatta put their poor season behind them with a stunning performance that ended Penrith’s eight-match winning streak and gave Brisbane the chance to win the minor championship.
Brad Arthur, the coach of the Eels, said to reporters following the game, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry because we’re going to miss out [on finals] by a game.”
“At least we persevered in our fight… This is the better approach to conclude.
Eels halfback Dylan Brown told ABC Sport, “We came to play.
“It’s the only thing you can do to finish off a disappointing season, go out with a bang.”
Penrith gave up the opening points for the second straight week, with Sivo scoring after only three minutes as a result of a magnificent pass out the back from Dylan Brown on the left touchline.
Coach Brad Arthur promised “a bit of fight and passion” in the lead-up to the game, and his team definitely delivered right away. The Eels are statistically still in the running for the finals, but they are mathematically almost certain to drop out.
In the first ten minutes, Parramatta should have scored again, but Ryan Matterson dropped the ball after being pressed by rookie fullback Jesse McLean.
Moses Leota made a poor tackle, but Daejarn Asi got through and offloaded to Matterson, who really ought to have done better.
Tyrone Peachey completed a beautiful left-side play for the Panthers to score, but Nathan Cleary unexpectedly missed the kick.
Sivo dove over in the corner for the Eels’ quick response, which was his second.
Teenager McClean caught him high as well; she was reported for the swinging arm and Parramatta was given the option of an eight-point try.
To give the Eels a 12-4 advantage, Gutherson settled for the penalty under the posts after missing the sideline kick.
Leave a Reply