Wounded Wicks ruled out as Knights hunt Rabbitohs
BY ROBERT DILLON
24/07/2008 9:44:00 PM
NEWCASTLE Knights heavyweight Danny Wicks will miss Sunday's must-win clash with South Sydney after succumbing to an ankle-ligament injury that coach Brian Smith said had hindered his performance for much of the season.
Wicks will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a partial tear of the syndesmosis a collection of ligaments that bind the tibia and fibula and his unavailability is another body blow to Newcastle's already-depleted engine-room rotation.
NSW enforcer Ben Cross is out of commission for at least another month as he recovers from torn knee ligaments and a broken thumb.
Jesse Royal (knee) is not expected to return for at least a fortnight, and former Country Origin prop Mitchell Sargent was released recently to link with Castleford in the English Super League.
International workhorse Steve Simpson has missed the past two games with hip and ankle injuries and is no certainty to return against the Rabbitohs.
Wicks has played in all 17 games since joining the Knights this season from St George Illawarra, but in recent weeks the 22-year-old has been struggling to reproduce the impact he made in the early rounds.
Smith revealed yesterday that Wicks had soldiered on in pain, when others may have taken the easy option and withdrawn, because he realised that the Knights were running short of front-rowers.
"He's been carrying it for probably six or eight weeks . . . his training has certainly been inhibited, and that usually leads to be a slight lack of production in games," Smith said.
"And with a big man, given that he hasn't been able to do any regular running, eventually it wears you down.
"Unless it repairs and you get over it, you end up getting slightly worse week by week."
Smith said Wicks, who was unable to be contacted yesterday, had kept the injury quiet because he did not want to be seen as making excuses.
The 118-kilogram speedster has been unable to have painkilling injections to take the field because doctors feared that he might rupture the ligaments totally.
Ironically, Smith said Wicks had "carried the ball as strongly as he has all season" last weekend against the Sharks, making 87 metres in attack.
But at training on Wednesday, he was in extreme discomfort and scans yesterday revealed the injury had deteriorated.
"He aggravated it at training and we sent him off for scans that showed he's done some more damage," Smith said.
Knights doctor Neil Halpin confirmed yesterday that a syndesmosis tear was "a nasty injury" that would have left Wicks operating at a reduced capacity.
"It's a painful and limiting injury," Halpin said. "It may well have interfered with his performance, for sure.
"It's a partial tear, not a full tear, so at this stage we'll treat it with physio and treat it conservatively and see how he pulls up in a couple of weeks.
"If it doesn't settle down, he may require an operation, but I'm hopeful he can get by without surgery."
Smith said rugged Mark Taufua, who has played the past two games in first grade, was likely to come onto the bench as replacement for Wicks.
"Mark Taufua is our 18th man, so I'd say he'll be involved in one way or another," Smith said.
The Knights will be sweating on the fitness of Simpson and halfback Jarrod Mullen (bruised hip) at today's training session.
The Rabbitohs yesterday lost veteran Shannon Hegarty to a groin strain. He has been replaced by Luke Capewell.
