NZ Warriors half Chanel Harris-Tavita will be sidelined for the next three-to-four weeks, after rupturing his testicle during Monday's demolition by Melbourne Storm.
Harrris-Tavita suffered the injury in the 34th minute of the record-breaking 70-10 Anzac Day loss in an incident involving teammate Josh Curran's knee, as they combined to prevent Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen from scoring.
He spent almost two minutes being attended to on the Warriors’ goal-line before rejoining the defensive line.
Remarkably, Harris-Tavita battled through the pain to remain on the field to play the full 80 minutes, finishing with 18 tackles without a miss, despite the Storm's relentless assault on the Warriors' line.
The 23-year-old has since undergone surgery to repair his testicle. He's expected to be available again for the round 10 match against South Sydney Rabbitohs on May 14 or the following weekend against St George Illawarra.
The injury instantly draws comparisons to All Blacks great Buck Shelford's famous efforts against France in 1986, when the captain played through a torn scrotum.
The young half has been one of the team's brightest sparks through the early stages of the season and his loss further compounds a mounting injury toll, with Curran and wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak both facing absences.
With Kodi Nikorima also unavailable after a positive COVID-19 test and off-season signing Ash Taylor out indefinitely, Shaun Johnson is the only healthy established half left.
New signing Daejearn Asi is now poised to make his debut for the Warriors against Canberra Raiders this weekend, after completing his first training session with the team on Thursday since joining the squad from North Queensland Cowboys on Tuesday.
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