Roosters without star playmaker Luke Keary for clash against Eels
Sydney Roosters halfback Luke Keary has been ruled out of Saturday night’s clash with Parramatta because of the head knock suffered against Melbourne.
Keary left the field in visible pain against the Storm last weekend and did not return.
While able to train with his Roosters teammates on Thursday, Keary’s concussion history has given medical staff reason to be cautious.
Keary suffered five head knocks between 2018 and 2019, causing him to miss five NRL games and consult with a specialist.
“He got through training quite well but it just wasn’t quite enough to have him play tomorrow night,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“This happens weekly in our game so we understand it. How we deal with it post-concussion varies depending on individuals.”
Robinson said the Roosters were proud of their culture around concussion, with superstars Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend enjoying the club’s full support when they chose to hang up their boots due to repeated head knocks.
“It’s really simple. Let the process take its course and support the player,” he said.
“They want to know that they’re cared for and they’ll be cared for.
“You’ve just got to have the right system in place and moral compass about the way that you handle it.”
Robinson said he had no reason as yet to fear that concussion could force Keary into retirement.
“He trained quite well yesterday and he’s in good spirits,” he said.
“He’s recovered quite quickly but just not enough to play on Saturday.”
Every NRL side has next weekend off for the representative round so Keary will have at least three weeks to recover from his first head knock since 2019.
Sam Walker looks likely to switch to halfback, where he played in Keary’s absence last season, for the Eels game.
Robinson was coy as to who would partner him in the halves but Drew Hutchison, Lachlan Lam, Adam Keighran and Joey Manu are options.
Meanwhile, Robinson has endorsed club star Daniel Tupou who is under pressure to retain his Origin spot for NSW given the form of Canterbury winger Josh Addo-Carr.
Tupou replaced Addo-Carr for the first game and performed strongly but ‘The Foxx’ has scored five tries in two NRL appearances since being snubbed.
Robinson said debate around selection was only natural.
“It creates interest,” he said. “(NSW) has some decisions to make but I think we all saw how (Tupou) played in that game.”
Robinson added New Zealand international prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was moving closer to returning from his hamstring injury.
“He had a good run on Thursday,” Robinson said. “His progress is going well but obviously not well enough to play.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
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