It’s a case of another week, another disastrous injury at the Melbourne Storm – or at least it appears that way after yet another star player was forced from the field in Friday’s big win over the Gold Coast Titans.
Halfback Jahrome Hughes is reported to have sustained a shoulder injury during the first half of the game. Though the industrious No.7 stayed on the field until the break, he was assessed at half-time and Storm coach Craig Bellamy opted to rest him for the second half of the match.
“Jahrome Hughes won’t be risked for the rest of the match,” said Fox Sports reporter Lara Pitt at the time.
“He’s with the physio in the sheds, the club is telling me he simply had no strength in his shoulder. There were concerns he’d dislocated it in contact but it popped straight back in. He’s going to have scans tomorrow.”
The club will be hoping for some good news after a never-ending run of injuries to valuable players in recent weeks. Ryan Papenhuyzen, Reimis Smith, George Jennings, Justin Olam, Nick Meaney and Christian Welch all among the prolific names unable to take the field for Craig Bellamy.
The club were boosted by the return of flying winger Xavier Coates, who scored the opening try in the 32-14 rout.
Despite the ever-increasing injury list, things don’t get any easier for Melbourne, with games against the Panthers, Broncos, Roosters and Eels on the road to the finals.
Though the Storm are unlikely to miss the finals, the tough run home and well-known injury issues could have a disastrous effect on their top eight standing.