Saffy Out !

[STG 002]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27752134-5018866,00.html

NRL Premiership



St George Illawarra lose Jarrod Saffy for preliminary final with Wests Tigers

By Steve Jancetic
September 24, 2010
St George Illawarra have lost prop Jarrod Saffy to a quad injury for Saturday night's NRL preliminary final against Wests Tigers.
Saffy failed to take part in Friday's final training session at Redfern Oval, the injury he suffered in the qualifying final win over Manly almost two weeks ago failing to respond to treatment.

John Green, who was named in an extended squad earlier in the week, will take Saffy's place on the bench alongside Nathan Fien, Matt Prior and Trent Merrin.

Utility Nick Emmett will be 18th man with rookie Kyle Stanley, prop Ricky Thorby and hooker Luke Priddis the others to miss out.

"It's a big blow for us, he's been playing well off the bench," Dragons captain Ben Hornby said.

"I'm sure whoever comes in will play well."

The Dragons have bunkered down in camp at a secret location in Sydney ahead of the preliminary final, which could be watched by a full house with over 60,000 tickets already sold.

Hornby denied there was extra pressure on the minor premiers to win the game, claiming the opportunity is there for both sides to secure a grand final berth.

"There's pressure on everyone, if you lose you're out - I don't think the pressure's any more on us than anyone else," Hornby said.

"It's do or die now so you've got to put in a good performance or you're out."

 

[Dazzling Darius]

An absolute gun off the bench. He'll be sorely missed.

 

[BigNormProvan]

Bugger. I didn't even know he was under an injury cloud.


Big Norm

 

[TheRev]

Disappointing, but we have enough troops.

 

[ScarboroughDragon]

Shame because I think Saffy gives us some real go forweard off th bench. I think he is also a lot more agile in defence than Greeny.....no disrespect intended to Greeny, but he is a lot larger and seems a lot less mobile.

I think we'll miss Saffy a LOT!

 

[Dragon Dave]

Big loss, but Green has done what's been asked of him before. Go get 'em Jon!

 

[MattJ]

Just out of curiosity.... why are the dragons doing training sessions at Redfern?

 

[The Masked Avenger]

Just out of curiosity.... why are the dragons doing training sessions at Redfern?

The fences there are more sturdy for a start.

 

[st.phil]

Merrin is more than ready - his offloads and charges in the last 20 made a huge difference to our pack. Bring him first prop change

 

[Fingerbang]

Just out of curiosity.... why are the dragons doing training sessions at Redfern?

The locals were wondering what it is like to have a finals football team in their area.

Or they were puzzled as to why a football team was still training in September.

 

[hardbaby]

Big blow but not as much as the Tigers losing Payten. Saffy is our number 3 prop. Payten is their number 1 prop. I really hope Green muscles up. We need him to fire next year and this is a golden opportunity for him.

 

[Mr Red]

would rather have Emmett in the 17 then Green. more mobile, in better form and can cover a variety of positions.

 

[Fingerbang]

would rather have Emmett in the 17 then Green. more mobile, in better form and can cover a variety of positions.

Might still happen yet. I think Green gets the nod because he plays prop. Don't think Emmett would. My preference would be Priddis to start, Young stay at lock, and Fien on bench. Priddis has been outstanding the last few weeks, in his short bursts, and certainly knows all about finals football.

 

[Cagey Mac]

So I had a dream last night and Saffy was ruled out injured
Now that’s not unusual because I was aware of his injury and have been waking up every day thinking of this upcoming preliminary final
What was unusual is that Saffy’s replacement was Kyle Stanley

 

[smi962]

Bugger, thats a shame; Green has to be the replacement though, we definitely need to make sure enough we have enough people in the engine room

 

[Willow]

Green can fill in. On his day he can hurt the opposition coming off the bench. Just needs to make sure tomorrow is one of those days.

 

[sovereign]

So our
#1 prop is carrying an injury and not at his best
#2 prop is out for the rest of the season
#3 prop is out for the most important game we've played this season so far..
:?

Weyman needs to stay effective the whole time he's on, and the others really need to step up!

 

[RedVDave]

Costigan has been fantastic all season but he will need to take it up a notch tomorrow night in Saffy's absence.

 

[Ulysseus]

Will Saffir be ready for the GF should they make it?

 

[hardbaby]

So I had a dream last night and Saffy was ruled out injured
Now that’s not unusual because I was aware of his injury and have been waking up every day thinking of this upcoming preliminary final
What was unusual is that Saffy’s replacement was Kyle Stanley

I would be very surprised Cagey Mac. I have no doubt that in terms of talent Stanley should be in the starting 17 but we have lost a prop so we should replace him with a prop. The dragons have been a bit susceptible in the forwards at times and we need a big, hard mo'fo. Stanley, despite his brilliance, does not fit that mould. Still, I guess it was a nice dream...