Dom Young taken to hospital after crusher tackle
Scott Bailey |
Star Sydney Roosters recruit Dom Young has been taken to hospital in an ambulance for precautionary neck scans after being hurt in a crusher tackle.
Young left Central Coast Stadium on a stretcher and in a neck brace after a second-half tackle from Manly forward Toff Sipley in the Roosters’ 36-22 pre-season win.
The Roosters’ Vegas clash against Brisbane is two weeks away, and the club believed putting him an ambulance would ensure scan results would come back before they fly out on Wednesday.
Young has endured a difficult summer, after he was hospitalised in England when a sinus infection spread to his brain in October.
“He’s good, it’s just when you’re dealing with the neck, you want to be precautionary, so he’s just gone to the hospital to get a scan,” coach Trent Robinson said.
“He was good in there (in the sheds) talking and sitting up and all that, but they just want to keep it stable just so we know what’s exactly wrong with it.
“But he was in good spirits and he was fine.”
Robinson already faces a difficult decision on the make-up of his outside backs.
Daniel Tupou, Joey Manu, Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii, Young and Billy Smith all need to fit into four spots, with Robinson likely to rotate them in the opening rounds.
Smith was given a chance to start against Manly on Saturday, and set up a try when he leapt high at left centre to take a Luke Keary bomb and put Daniel Tupou over.
Suaalii also had a neat touch at right centre when he put on a no-look pass for Young to score, before coming off in the second half and being replaced by Manu.
With the Roosters at close to full strength and Manly undermanned, Sam Walker also scored a try out of dummy-half after a Keary bust.
Meanwhile, Sipley’s tackle could also have ramifications for Manly.
He was placed on report, and could face a ban that would rule him out of their Vegas season opener against South Sydney.
Josh Schuster will also fly to Las Vegas five days after his Manly teammates after being rested from Saturday’s loss.
Originally scheduled to come off the bench, Schuster was put on ice for another week as he recovers from a calf injury.
The Sea Eagles now want to play him in next Saturday’s pre-season match against Brisbane at Brookvale, before he flies to the US the following day.
“He’ll fly to Vegas on the Sunday and then we’ll make a decision whether he is in the 17 or not,” Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold said on Fox Sports.
“It’s a long season and this is quite a unique preparation for us. The physio decided to pull him out and give him a good prep for the Broncos trial.”
Even if fit, Schuster is also no certainty to be in Manly’s first-choice starting side, with Ben Trbojevic impressing on the left in the second row in the pre-season.
AAP