The knee injury suffered by Paul Gallen was the major concern to come from the weekend’s season-opener in Townsville, with the Sharks Captain set to miss 4-6 weeks.
Gallen injured his right knee during the second half of the match against the Cowboys, with initial fears he had suffered an ACL tear which would have required a full knee reconstruction and as a result he would have missed the entire 2016 season.
At 34-years of age and in the ‘twilight’ of his career, an ACL injury may have finished the career of the Sharks skipper, who was a relieved man when scans conducted at the Miranda premises of Sharks major partner Southern Radiology revealed a meniscus tear and a posterior cruciate injury.
Recovery and rehabilitation time for such an injury is difficult to accurately predict, however Gallen was hopeful of a return with six weeks.
In other Sharks injury news, the NRL squad escaped relatively unscathed from what was a physical encounter in Townsville, with players involved in the Newtown Intrust Super Premiership game against the Bulldogs encountering a few more issues.
Jordan Drew was forced from the field in just the third minute with a concussion and failed to return, while Matt McIlwrick left the game in the 13th minute with a knee problem.
The McIlwrick injury was later deemed not serious, with the former Rooster training strongly at Shark Park on Tuesday.
Drew was also on the field early this week and like McIlwrick, has been named to play for the Jets this weekend. Drew will need to take a cognitive test prior to the Jets next match on Saturday before being passed fit to play.
While the Gallen injury is certainly a setback, considering the toll to come from round one of the NRL competition, the Sharks enter week two in a relatively healthy state, with the rest of the full-time NRL roster avialable for selection this weekend.
