PARRAMATTA stars Jarryd Hayne and Tim Mannah are both likely to miss the first-round clash with Brisbane after suffering suspected knee cartilage damage in last night's 26-10 trial loss against Penrith.
Prop Mannah was able to walk off the field after being injured 10 minutes into the second half at Centrebet Stadium. It looked as though the damage might have been worse for Hayne when he had to be helped off by two trainers after being hurt in the 70th minute, but Eels coach Stephen Kearney said afterwards the pair had similar injuries.
''Jarryd and Tim will have scans tomorrow, but hopefully it's just a bit of cartilage damage in each case,'' he said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''That's what the doctor thinks, after having a look at them. It depends on the exact damage, but it's looking like two to three weeks out for both. Hopefully, they won't require surgery, but you would have to think they're very doubtful for the first round.''
Parramatta play Brisbane in the opening round at Parramatta Stadium on March 2, but, while that game is likely to come too soon, both Hayne and Mannah could be back for the second round, even if they have to undergo arthroscopies.
After coming off and receiving treatment, Hayne said he was feeling optimistic that the injury was only minor.
''I'm obviously sore. It went numb straight away, but I've iced it over the last 20 minutes and it's sort of come good,'' Hayne said.
''At the moment it's just a bit of cartilage, I think, so I'll get some scans tomorrow. It doesn't feel the best, but it's not too bad. I can just walk on it now. Hopefully, the scans are good.''
The news was all good for the Panthers, who built on last week's strong performance in an 18-18 draw with Newcastle. Michael Gordon appears to have won the battle for the fullback spot going into the competition proper, after playing strongly in the first half. Lachlan Coote played fullback for the Panthers in the second half, but couldn't match Gordon's performance.
Still, coach Ivan Cleary was giving nothing away when asked who had clinched the No.1 jumper, saying it was still a contest between Gordon and Coote at this stage.
Cleary was understandably pleased with the display from his team, saying: ''You want to keep improving and that's what we did tonight. We built on what we did last week against the Knights.''
The Eels looked tremendous early on and their fans would have been delighted by the interaction of superstar Hayne and newly arrived halfback Chris Sandow in the lead-up to the opening try of the match in the seventh minute.
Sandow found Hayne, and he then found winger Luke Burt roving infield. Burt negotiated some defensive traffic before grubber-kicking to the corner for a try for fellow winger Ken Sio.
But from 4-0 ahead the Eels fell to 18-4 down by half-time. The Panthers opened the second half the way they had finished the first, in attack, but failed to capitalise on a couple of early opportunities.
Eventually, the Eels began to find a bit of form again, but it wasn't until the 62nd minute that they finally came up with their second try, Sandow sliding over after making a good pick-up when a ball had gone to ground from a bomb.
Burt's conversion cut the deficit to eight points, but the Panthers then came back with two tries in the last 10 minutes to win the match comfortably.
Parramatta still have a lot of work to do between now and the opening round. They have lacked understanding in both of their trial games.
