While the Sharks casualty ward is a little more crowded than it has been in recent weeks, the overall injury situation remains a positive one heading into State of Origin game one tonight and the round 13 clash with the Bulldogs on Monday night.
When teams were announced yesterday four names were missing from the team sheets of the Sharks and Newtown Jets, with Matt Prior, Josh Cleeland, Junior Roqica and David Fifita unavailable this weekend.
Prior is the most relevant in terms of the current Sharks NRL squad, with the tough-tackling front rower still on the mend after injuring a knee in his teams’ round 10 win over the Newcastle Knights.
While he wasn’t named to face the Bulldogs and is likely to sit out Monday night’s match, the injury is steadily improving and Prior is set to be welcomed back for the Sharks next assignment, that being a game against the North Queensland Cowboys in round 14.
As for the other injured NRL squad members, both Cleeland and Roqica failed to finish the Newtown Jets last match up in Wyong back in round 11, with Cleeland twisting an ankle injury, Roqica suffering a foot injury.
Cleeland has been had at work in the gym and with his rehabilitation and is due to return in round 14, however the prognosis on Roqica isn’t quite as clear.
The rangy Sharks forward will undergo further scans on his foot early next week to determine the extent of his injury, with a return date for Roqica still unknown.
As for David Fifita, the twin brother of Andrew has been granted personal leave and is scheduled to be back at training ahead of the round 16 match against the Warriors.
Wade Graham, who caused some concern when assisted from the field late in the win over Manly, has overcome his ankle problem and completed a full training session with the rest of the team yesterday.
There are no other injury concerns for the rest of the Sharks team that has been named to play the Bulldogs.
Should they come through the State of Origin match tonight unscathed, Paul Gallen, James Maloney and Andrew Fifita will take their place in the Sharks team on Monday night.
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