Crichton’s miracle recovery falls short of semi-final
Jasper Bruce |
Stephen Crichton’s miracle recovery from an ankle injury has fallen short, with the Canterbury captain to miss the NRL semi-final against his old side Penrith.
Crichton had attempted to train on Friday night despite leaving the field during last week’s qualifying-final loss to Melbourne with a suspected syndesmosis injury.
But Sunday’s semi-final will come too soon for Crichton, who could face Brisbane should the Bulldogs upset the four-time reigning premiers and advance to a grand-final qualifier.
“To give himself a chance to have a crack at training last night was an incredible effort. He just couldn’t get there,” said coach Cameron Ciraldo.
“We’ll stick with the team that we named.”
Winger Marcelo Montoya will also miss the semi-final against the Panthers with his own ankle injury, keeping rookie Jethro Rinakama in the backline for just his sixth NRL game.
Matt Burton will take Crichton’s spot in the centres as planned, with Toby Sexton joining Lachie Galvin in the halves.
Ciraldo admitted it was always improbable Crichton would recover in time to race into the team.
“It was a long shot at the start of the week anyway and we prepared without him so we’ll stick to that,” Ciraldo said.
“It wasn’t ’til Tuesday when the physio said ‘he’s just improving rapidly and he might be a chance’. So we put him in the 22 and gave him until last night, which was basically our cut-off to see if they can play.
“He gave it every chance and for a second there we thought there was a chance, but he just couldn’t get the strength that he needed.
“If he keeps continuing like that, then anything’s possible (for next week) but we’re not looking anywhere past the next 24 hours.”
AAP
