Zeb prays for injury miracle
BY ROBERT DILLON
KNIGHTS ironman Zeb Taia hopes to defy the medical experts and take his place in Sunday's survival showdown with Penrith at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Taia sub-luxed, or partially dislocated, his right shoulder in Monday's 30-14 loss to Canberra in the national capital and was awaiting the results of scans taken yesterday afternoon.
Knights doctor Peter McGeoch and coach Rick Stone said yesterday that the prospects of Taia lining up against Penrith on Sunday were remote.
But Taia, who has played in every game for Newcastle this season, insisted he had no intention of missing a clash the Knights must win to qualify for next week's play-offs.
"They're saying at least one week, but I want to play this week," Taia said yesterday.
"I'll see what happens. I'll see how my shoulder feels by Thursday.
"I haven't given up hope. Not yet."
Knights playmaker Jarrod Mullen suffered a similar injury playing against Wests Tigers in round seven but staged a miraculous recovery to take on Brisbane six days later.
McGeoch was uncertain how long Taia was facing on the sidelines but doubted he would be cleared to face Penrith.
"It will really depend on the result of the scans, but I think you can safely rule him out of this week, anyway," McGeoch said.
McGeoch was optimistic, however, that Taia would not need reconstructive surgery, which would leave him facing six months of rehabilitation.
"We don't anticipate that," McGeoch said.
"You wouldn't normally give someone a reconstruction. Occasionally you might need to do minor surgery if he's got a tear at the back of his shoulder, but once we get the MRI [scans] we'll know a lot more."
Taia said he had watched the tackle that left him injured on video and held no ill feeling towards Canberra forward Bronson Harrison, who was hit yesterday with a "chicken wing" charge by the NRL's match-review panel.
Harrison was charged with grade-one dangerous contact (unnecessary arm/shoulder pressure), but an early guilty plea would reduce his demerit points to 75, allowing him to avoid suspension.
"When I saw the replay, I was pretty disappointed, but I was sure he didn't really mean it," Taia said.
"There's no bad blood there.
"I've known Bronson for years and we've played against each other since we were at school.
"I didn't feel it was like a chicken-wing tackle.
"All I felt was the pain when I landed on it, and Bronson was saying 'sorry man' and apologising and helping pull me back over."
Taia said he had not considered whether the injury would impact on his New Zealand Test selection chances for the end-of-series quad series.
The 24-year-old is uncapped, but Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney has expressed interest in including him in the world champions' squad.
"I was never thinking about that," Taia said.
"I was just thinking about missing the semis and the game this week.
"That's been my main focus the last few weeks, just making the semis."
Stone said on Monday night that it would be a "massive blow" if Taia was ruled out this week and is expected to recall Cory Paterson , who sat out the Canberra game because of a hip injury.
"At first glance, Zeb has to be extremely doubtful," Stone said.
"I had a bit of a chat to Cory after the game [against Canberra] and he's jumping out of his skin to play this week."
Stone will also assess NSW Origin winger James McManus, who hopes to return this week from a long lay-off after ankle surgery.
Herald
