Serious knee injury ends Cronulla captain’s season

Cronulla captain Cameron McInnes has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a suspected ACL injury in a huge blow to his side’s premiership campaign.

The Sharks smashed the Gold Coast 54-22 in the Shire, with halfback Nicho Hynes finishing with two tries and a personal tally of 22 points. The win keeps alive the Sharks’ finals hopes, but has come at a considerable cost in the form of McInnes. The inspirational forward left Shark Park before his teammates even had a chance to sing the team song. A scan on Monday is expected to reveal the second ACL setback of his career.

Even if the damage isn’t as bad as first feared, Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon predicted McInnes had almost certainly played his last game of the season.

“It’s not looking good,” Fitzgibbon said.

Asked how big a void the skipper would leave, Fitzgibbon said: “That would be hard to wrap up in a press conference five minutes after the game.

“It will be an opportunity for someone else to step up as a leader.

“He’s OK. Cam’s emotional bank account has two cents in it. Just nothing.

“Point blank. [All he said is] I’m good.”

Teammate Jayden Brailey felt for the injured McInnes.

“It’s tough. To Cam’s credit, it’s not about him, it’s more about the team and he’s checking up on everyone before himself,” Brayley said.

“He’s such a big leader of our side, it just shows the type of leader he is and his character that he’s about the team and not himself. He’s an outstanding leader.”

In the match, Cronulla had effectively kicked the Gold Coast to death in a 32-point win. Four of the home side’s five first-half tries came via the boot, predominantly from bombs that couldn’t be defused.

For very different reasons, this was life and death for the combatants. Cronulla avoided another slip-up, one which could have resulted in them slipping out of the top eight.

The Gold Coast, meanwhile, took a step backwards after showing signs of life in recent weeks. Theirs is an unbalanced roster with up to five potential fullbacks, but they couldn’t find one capable of catching the high kicks hoisted by Braydon Trindall and Nicho Hynes. It’s a day their back three will want to forget.

When it was suggested that Trindall was one of the form kickers in the NRL, coach Craig Fitzgibbon responded: “Yeah, there’s not many better chasers than Ronnie Mulatalo at the moment either.

“It’s such a good balance where we land and Tricky can put the ball in that corner and Nicho can do it on the other side at the moment, the kicking’s been really strong.

“A good kick is only as good as its chase and I thought the boys were really committed to that. We applied a lot of pressure through that.”

It has been another wet, old week in Sydney, but the conditions couldn’t be blamed. The ground was bathed in sunshine and the pitch was in reasonable condition despite recent downpours. The Cronulla wingers, Sione Katoa and Ronaldo Mulitalo, made the most of the dry track, scoring two tries apiece. Katoa also saved one, for good measure.

However, it was Hynes who made the most hay while the sun shone. The halfback scored two tries and kicked seven goals for a personal tally of 22 points.

Porous in defence, the Titans also showed little imagination in attack. Two of their four tries were the result of intercepts. As the carnage continued in the second half the full-time siren, and the end of the season couldn’t come quickly enough for them. They will soon get their wish.

Titans captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, after his first game back from a knee injury, said he hadn’t made a decision on whether he will represent Australia or Samoa at the end of the year. The star forward also brushed off questions about his future as rivals try to tempt him to trigger a get-out clause in his mammoth Titans contract.

“I’m at the Titans, I’m dedicated to play well for my coach and for everyone involved in the Titans,” he said.

“A lot of it is media and I’ve left it to my manager to deal with that stuff. But I’m here, I’m dedicating the next three weeks to get a bit of pride back in that jersey … I’m not worried about any of that external stuff.”

Bondi Confidential: the rookie Rooster who broke Sam Walker’s thumb

Hugo Savala only has himself to blame for delaying the start of what has become one of the NRL’s hottest young halves combinations with Sam Walker.

The Sydney Roosters pair, both 23, have been involved in everything for the past two powerhouse wins, and their combination will go a long way to deciding Friday’s blockbuster against the Bulldogs.

Walker was due to return from a ruptured ACL before round 15, only to break his thumb and delay his comeback by a month.

But the crafty halfback revealed it was while attempting to tackle Savala, of all players, at training when he came unstuck.

Roosters fans are entitled to wonder if their side could have been a win or two higher up the ladder had Walker returned when he was originally meant to.

“Two days out from that Knights’ game, I went in for a tackle that I’ve probably made about a million times, and I must have hit the wrong part of Hugo’s body,” Walker said.

“I went low on him and hit his knee or shin. It was something hard. I came off second best.

“I had no issues with the knee the whole time with my recovery, and the thumb was the only hiccup. Thanks, ‘Fluff’ [Savala].

“I’ve enjoyed playing with him. He’s got that big boot, which takes that edge off my game, and makes it easier for me and ‘Ted’ [James Tedesco] to roam that bit more. He’s got that composure, he’s a calm individual, and it rubs off on the rest of the team.

“I watched a lot of football while I was out, I studied the way we played, how we wanted to play, went to a lot of our meetings … I’m definitely not content with where I’m at at the moment. I need to keep getting better if we’re to give this comp a shake-up.”

Walker has been back five games and been responsible for five try assists, plenty of those coming off his boot for Daniel Tupou and Mark Nawaqanitawase.

“Having a bit of tall timber on the wing makes my job easier,” he said.

“I can’t explain how good it is to play with ‘Toops’, just the work he gets through, and the ability to finish off tries, it’s the reason he’s now up to fifth on the all-time try-scoring list.

“And Marky is one of the most naturally-gifted people I’ve seen. He’s brought that X-factor to our team, if there’s not much going on, you just have to get him the ball, and he’ll do something special.”

The last time the Roosters played Canterbury, Nawaqanitawase produced the try of the year when he chipped and somehow regathered for himself to score.

The Roosters belted the Dolphins 64-12 last weekend, defeated the Sea Eagles 20-4 the week before, and should have defeated the Storm prior to that. Their tries have been going up by six points when you consider Walker had kicked 26 straight conversions, only to miss his 27th attempt late in the game against the Dolphins.

Tedesco said of the young halves this week at the launch of Gadhu Gathering: “Both guys work hard, do their extras, are always asking questions and leaning on me for advice. They are so proud to play for the Roosters, and to play their footy. That’s what I love about them.”

A loss to the Bulldogs will not spell the end of their Roosters’ finals hopes, but it will leave them needing to win the remaining games against Parramatta, Melbourne and South Sydney.

Impasse over: Eels give Simonsson permission to speak to rival clubs

Bailey Simonsson has finally been granted his wish after Parramatta agreed to allow him to negotiate with other clubs.

The parties came to the arrangement on Tuesday, in the surest sign Simonsson has made his last appearance in blue and gold. Simonsson was given a leave of absence after a fallout with coach Jason Ryles, a situation that prompted multiple release requests.

The latest came after he was overlooked as the replacement for injured centre Sean Russell, with Ryles instead opting for Dylan Brown. Brown himself was on the outer over his decision not to leave early to join Newcastle, where he starts a 10-year, $13 million deal from next season.

Brown made just the third appearance of his career in the centres in the Eels’ win over the Cowboys on Sunday. Simonsson had previously indicated a preference to play on the wing, but was disappointed to be overlooked in favour of Brown.

Simonsson signed a new two-year contract just after Ryles was announced as coach, but has made just six NRL appearances this year.

On the eve of the clash against North Queensland, Ryles said it was unclear whether Simonsson would get another crack in first grade for the club.

“Bailey made that decision to stay away for a couple of days, which we fully supported,” Ryles said.

“He’ll get himself sorted, then we’ll get him back into training as soon as we can … It has been a little bit of a shock, but it’s footy and it’s all part of it. We’ve got to manage the players as best we can.”

Ryles declined to comment further on the matter after the Cowboys match.

The Eels are awaiting calls on the futures of Simonsson, Ryan Matterson and Brendan Hands to determine how many top-30 spots and the amount of cap space they have for next season. Matterson has joined Warrington, and Brendan Hands is at Toulouse Olympique until the end of the season, but the pair have the option of completing their Parramatta contracts next year if they don’t get new deals overseas.

In other Eels news, Isaiah Iongi was named on an extended bench for the clash against South Sydney in an indication he is close to returning from injury.

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