NZ Warriors have received more bad news on the injury front, with utility back Paul Turner ruled out for the rest of the NRL season.
The 20-year-old injured his shoulder after coming off the bench against St George Illawarra Dragons last weekend, but battled through the pain to grab his first try for the club and help the team to their third win of the season.
He now requires "extensive surgery" to repair his shoulder, which will sideline him for the rest of the year."I don't think we will see him again this year, which is really disappointing," Warriors assistant coach Craig Hodges says.
"Even though he had only had two games, I thought he did a really good job in that utility role off the bench.
"[Turner] requires pretty extensive surgery, so it was pretty courageous for him to carry on the other day to show what the team and the club mean to him.
"It shows the sort of character he has to continue to play on because it was pretty obvious to all our medical staff straight after the game that he wasn't in a good way."
Hodges did provide some positive news, with centre Adam Pompey's injury prognosis not as grave as its initial assessment of six to eight weeks.
"He should only be a couple of weeks, which is great news for him and the team because he's been playing some really good footy," Hodges adds.
"I think he was starting to feel part of the group and the position was his."
The Warriors also hope young second-row forward Eliesa Katoa will be back in contention for selection shortly.
"Katoa's injury is turf toe I know that," Hodges says. "He's had it for a couple of weeks and it just got worse and worse, so any injury below the hips is a bit more debilitating for rugby league players because you run on your legs.
"That one is in getting treated but so far in the first couple of days, it has responded well to treatment, so hopefully it won't be any more than two or three weeks."
Centre Euan Aitken and halfback Chanel Harris-Tavita are also slightly ahead of schedule, and are expected to be available in round nine or 10.
"[Aitken] and Chanel are both just started running again," he says. "By running I mean they're on the field doing very very slow laps around the oval, so it's not high intensity yet but they're up on their feet.
"I believe they're both progressing well and the medical staff are pretty happy but they will still be a little while off."
The Warriors face a stern test of their progress, when they face the Melbourne Storm in an ANZAC Day clash in Melbourne on Sunday.
NZ Warriors: 1-Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c), 2-David Fusitu'a, 3-Marcelo Montoya, 4-Jack Murchie, 5-Ken Maumalo, 6-Kodi Nikorima, 7-Sean O'Sullivan, 8-Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, 9-Wayde Egan, 10-Kane Evans, 11-Josh Curran, 12-Ben Murdoch-Masila, 13-Tohu Harris.
Interchange (from): 14-Jazz Tevaga, 15-Bunty Afoa, 16-Leeson Ah Mau, 17-Bayley Sironen, 18-Rocco Berry, 20-Tom Ale, 21-Reece Walsh, 22-Taniela Otukolo.
Join Newshub for live updates of the Warriors v Storm from 8:15pm Sunday.
