Danny
14-09-2004, 09:33 PM
Injured Anasta may miss semi
By Daniel Pace
September 14, 2004
FOX SPORTS
BULLDOGS playmaker Braith Anasta had a feeling he would suffer an injury during North Queensland's upset win over the NRL premiership heavyweights.
Unfortunately for the five-eighth, his instincts proved correct and he is likely to miss the 'Dogs' semi-final clash with Melbourne at Aussie Stadium on Sunday because of a bruised sternum.
"I'll tell you the truth. Going into the game on Saturday I just had a feeling I was going to get injured," said Anasta today before undergoing an MRI scan on his sternum.
"I don't know what it was. I just felt it was going to happen and in the end it did.
"It's just unlucky."
The former Test and NSW pivot has been injured in the lead-up to the NRL finals for the past four years.
In 2001 he broke his right thumb and then hurt his ankle; in 2002 he broke his left thumb (the Bulldogs were thrown out of the finals anyway for salary cap cheating); last year he suffered a stress fracture in his foot and this year he's battling a sternum injury.
Coach Steve Folkes ruled out injecting Anasta with pain-killers to get him on the paddock: "I think there's been two or three cases recently where guys have got punctured lungs through having pain killers in that area."
A club spokeswoman said the results of Anasta's MRI scan would not be made public until tomorrow but the No.6 was not confident of playing, despite being named in the side today.
Folkes is likely to promote Johnathan Thurston into first grade to replace Anasta while a question mark hangs over skipper Steve Price's participation in Sunday's semi-final.
Price will front the NRL judiciary tomorrow night to answer a grade one striking case and will miss the Storm game if found guilty. "I thought someone was pulling my leg actually when they told me he had been charged so we'll just have to wait and see," said Folkes.
Thurston, who will join the Cowboys at the end of this season, said he was ready to fill Anasta's shoes if needed.
"It's a big challenge but it's something I'm really looking forward to," said Thurston.
"There's a lot of quality blokes around me which will help."
There was some bright news for the Bulldogs, who have lost seven of their past nine play-off matches, including the 1998 grand final.
Halfback Brent Sherwin told reporters today he was confident of fully recovering from a troublesome hip injury in time for the clash with the Storm, who have lost nine of their past 10 matches against the `Dogs.
"I'll be playing," said the pint-sized No.7.
"It's a lot better than it was last week so hopefully it'll be 100 per cent by the weekend."
Sherwin admitted his injury restricted him during the 30-22 upset loss to the Cowboys but offered no excuses for his poor kicking game.
"I kicked pretty ordinary so I'll have a couple of extra sessions this week and hopefully I can produce a better performance this week."
Sherwin and winger Matt Utai, who refused to speak to the media today following his horror night against the Cowboys, did not train today.
North Queensland winger Matt Sing out-jumped Utai three times to score tries at Telstra Stadium and also twice prevented the nuggety Kiwi from touching down in the corner.
Folkes said he expected the Storm would pepper Utai's wing with cross field bombs. "(Storm winger) Matt King's a fairly tall guy," said Folkes.
"We'll have to make sure we get a bit more pressure on the kicker and give our catchers a little bit more protection than we did on Saturday night."
By Daniel Pace
September 14, 2004
FOX SPORTS
BULLDOGS playmaker Braith Anasta had a feeling he would suffer an injury during North Queensland's upset win over the NRL premiership heavyweights.
Unfortunately for the five-eighth, his instincts proved correct and he is likely to miss the 'Dogs' semi-final clash with Melbourne at Aussie Stadium on Sunday because of a bruised sternum.
"I'll tell you the truth. Going into the game on Saturday I just had a feeling I was going to get injured," said Anasta today before undergoing an MRI scan on his sternum.
"I don't know what it was. I just felt it was going to happen and in the end it did.
"It's just unlucky."
The former Test and NSW pivot has been injured in the lead-up to the NRL finals for the past four years.
In 2001 he broke his right thumb and then hurt his ankle; in 2002 he broke his left thumb (the Bulldogs were thrown out of the finals anyway for salary cap cheating); last year he suffered a stress fracture in his foot and this year he's battling a sternum injury.
Coach Steve Folkes ruled out injecting Anasta with pain-killers to get him on the paddock: "I think there's been two or three cases recently where guys have got punctured lungs through having pain killers in that area."
A club spokeswoman said the results of Anasta's MRI scan would not be made public until tomorrow but the No.6 was not confident of playing, despite being named in the side today.
Folkes is likely to promote Johnathan Thurston into first grade to replace Anasta while a question mark hangs over skipper Steve Price's participation in Sunday's semi-final.
Price will front the NRL judiciary tomorrow night to answer a grade one striking case and will miss the Storm game if found guilty. "I thought someone was pulling my leg actually when they told me he had been charged so we'll just have to wait and see," said Folkes.
Thurston, who will join the Cowboys at the end of this season, said he was ready to fill Anasta's shoes if needed.
"It's a big challenge but it's something I'm really looking forward to," said Thurston.
"There's a lot of quality blokes around me which will help."
There was some bright news for the Bulldogs, who have lost seven of their past nine play-off matches, including the 1998 grand final.
Halfback Brent Sherwin told reporters today he was confident of fully recovering from a troublesome hip injury in time for the clash with the Storm, who have lost nine of their past 10 matches against the `Dogs.
"I'll be playing," said the pint-sized No.7.
"It's a lot better than it was last week so hopefully it'll be 100 per cent by the weekend."
Sherwin admitted his injury restricted him during the 30-22 upset loss to the Cowboys but offered no excuses for his poor kicking game.
"I kicked pretty ordinary so I'll have a couple of extra sessions this week and hopefully I can produce a better performance this week."
Sherwin and winger Matt Utai, who refused to speak to the media today following his horror night against the Cowboys, did not train today.
North Queensland winger Matt Sing out-jumped Utai three times to score tries at Telstra Stadium and also twice prevented the nuggety Kiwi from touching down in the corner.
Folkes said he expected the Storm would pepper Utai's wing with cross field bombs. "(Storm winger) Matt King's a fairly tall guy," said Folkes.
"We'll have to make sure we get a bit more pressure on the kicker and give our catchers a little bit more protection than we did on Saturday night."