Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will undergo surgery tomorrow on a broken collarbone suffered in Saturday night's 45-26 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs that lifted the side to the top of the NRL ladder.
The injury happened in the first half of the match at Sydney's Accor Stadium, when Watene-Zelezniak came down hard on his right shoulder. He kept playing and in fact scored a try.
Head coach Andrew Webster told Newstalk ZB's Jason Pine he was hopeful the 31-year-old could return in time to play in the NRL finals, which starts on September 4 and runs until October 4.
“People probably don’t realise, Dallin did it in the first half,” Webster said.
“He kept running the football, wincing, and going back to the wing in pain. At halftime he took his jersey off to try and get it treated and I saw him try and put it back on and it wasn’t a nice look."
Webster said the team tried to get Watene-Zelezniak off the field, but he chased a play and scored before he could be replaced.
"He was about to come off but he turned and chased, got the pass and put it down with his left hand not his right," Webster said.
"Never scored a try with his left hand ever, pretty brave, extremely brave. I thought it was inspirational what he did last night."
Webster said the injury was not necessarily season-ending.
"He'll be right, Dal will work it out," Webster said.
The win moved the Warriors level with Penrith and the Sydney Roosters on 38 points, setting up a tight run to the minor premiership. Sitting on +295, they needed to beat Souths by 19 points to edge past the first-placed Panthers (+294) on points differential.
They got there thanks to rookie five-eighth Luke Hanson's 80th-minute field goal, which sealed the result after the Bunnies nearly pulled off a spectacular second-half comeback. The Roosters (+163) have a game in hand and play Wests Tigers on Sunday.
The Warriors host Newcastle and Manly over the final two rounds, while Penrith face Canterbury and Wests Tigers, and the Roosters square off with the Dolphins and Souths.
SHARE ME