Rabbitohs young gun Tyrone Munro out for two months with shoulder injury
South Sydney have launched a bid have Dane Gagai’s brother cleared for their Las Vegas fixture after teen flyer Tyrone Munro was added to the club’s growing casualty ward.
South Sydney have launched a bid to have Jacob Gagai cleared for their season opener in Las Vegas after their mounting injury crisis claimed another victim in the outside backs - teenage flyer Tyrone Munro.
Gagai, the 28-year-old brother of Newcastle and Queensland centre Dane Gagai, is yet to play first grade but has vaulted into contention to play in
Round 1 after the Rabbitohs were rocked when Munro broke his collarbone at training over the weekend.
Munro underwent scans on Monday which confirmed he was expected to miss up to eight weeks, a bitter blow not just to Souths but also for the 19-year-old as he closed in on a place in a Rabbitohs backline that has been ravaged heading into the season.
Munro joins a growing list of absentees as the Rabbitohs
prepare to head for America. Centre Campbell Graham headlines the slew of sidelined stars thanks to a sternum injury that may take up to six months to heal.
The Rabbitohs will also be without star recruit Jack Wighton, who is serving a suspension dating back to last season that will mean he is unavailable for the game against the Sea Eagles.
Izaak Thompson would have come into contention but he is unavailable for the game, leaving Gagai as one of the few outside backs on the club’s books capable of playing at Allegiant Stadium.
The issue for the Rabbitohs is that Gagai was charged and suspended over an incident in last year’s state championships after a swinging arm on Brisbane Easts player George Jennings.
Gagai was hit with a grade two careless high tackle offence which carried a one-match ban with an early guilty plea.
The Rabbitohs are hopeful that the judiciary will allow them to use the All Stars game as part of the ban, which would free him to take part in Round 1.
Gagai and fellow Souths player Isaiah Tass were withdrawn from the All Stars game at the weekend as the Rabbitohs looked to ensure their numbers weren’t further dwindled.
It now appears he should not have been picked in the first place given he is serving a suspension. That could end up working in Souths favour as they look to have the All Stars game counted as part of his ban, which would free him to play in Las Vegas.
The Rabbitohs are also sweating on the fitness of five-eighth Cody Walker as he struggled with a calf injury that forced his withdrawal from the All Stars game.
The Rabbitohs are confident the injury is only minor but this week will be crucial as he bids to prove his fitness to take on the Sea Eagles.
The last thing Souths can afford is to lose another of their big names given the way they have already been decimated in the lead up to Round 1.
Coach Jason Demetriou will be sweating on his players emerging from the All Stars game unscathed - Latrell and Shaquai Mitchell are part of the Indigenous All Stars team.
