Winning your first game is always a pleasant feeling for any side, but when it is potentially soured by the news that one of your star props could face the rest of the season out with a pectoral injury, it is cause for concern – something the Wests Tigers are anxiously waiting to hear news on.
It was during their win against the Panthers earlier today, that saw prop Keith Galloway leave the field with a pectoral injury and potentially a bad one.
He was not the only player to leave the field with a pectoral injury, however, with Panthers five-eighth Lachlan Coote also expected to spend time on the sidelines.
Best case scenario for both players is just 6 weeks out, but with both set to undergo scans tomorrow, the news of the extent of their respective pectoral injuries will then be made known.
The loss of Coote resulted in an odd re-shuffle for Ivan Cleary, as he was forced to move Kevin Kingston to five-eighth, a move that saw interchange hooker James Segeyaro receive more minutes at hooker.
“It definitely affected our attack today (losing Coote), but we never came here wanting to allow the Tigers to score that many points,” Cleary said.
“I always get a bit nervous about early reports but it’s (Coote’s pectoral muscle) not ruptured so that’s a good sign.
“If he can miss surgery that’s only six weeks.”
It was a star performance from Tigers prop Aaron Woods, who nabbed a rare double in his side’s win, but despite the win, Robbie Farah is not getting carried away and knows full well that they have work to do.
“We’re not kidding ourselves,” skipper Robbie Farah said of the win.
“They lost Lachlan Coote in the first ten minutes, Kingston had to go to five-eighth which I don’t think he’s ever played, Segeyaro had to play the rest of the game.
“They weren’t at their best today and they still came hard at us at the end.
“There’s still a fair amount of work for us to do.”
3. Robbie Farah
2. Aaron Woods
1. Sika Manu