- Xavier Coates suffers a painful hamstring injury
- The Maroons star had to be helped off the field
- There seems to be big doubts about the winner of the Origin
Xavier Coates appears to be a major doubt for the State of Origin decider after the Queensland winger suffered a hamstring injury in Melbourne’s 16-6 win over Canberra.
A shattered Coates limped out of AAMI Park on Saturday night after trying to lunge for the ball and had to be helped to the changing rooms by trainers.
The injury, his second hamstring problem of the season, threatens his participation in the third Origin match in Brisbane on July 17.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said Coates would undergo tests but admitted it did not look good for the 23-year-old.
“Obviously he’s not great, you know, he’s had some issues,” Bellamy said.
“Until they do a scan, we won’t know the exact extent of the injury, but I don’t think it’s too good.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be available (for Origin), but I also don’t think the medical staff are going to make that prediction until they see a scan.”
Physiotherapist Brien Seeney, who runs the popular NRL Physio account on social media platform
Xavier Coates (pictured) appears to be in serious doubt for the State of Origin decider after the Queensland winger suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday night.
While Coates withdrew from Wednesday’s Origin II, played next door at the MCG, Melbourne captain Harry Grant was rested, while star fullback Ryan Papenhuzen was also absent with a foot injury.
With injured Cameron Munster already sidelined, the Storm struggled to convert a strong first-half possession into points.
However, the Raiders deserved credit for their defensive effort, particularly after giving up 82 points in their last two losses.
Canberra ended up making 345 tackles to the Storm’s 223, with five ruck infringements by the visitors in the first half alone.
It took until the 36th minute for Melbourne to take a 6-0 lead when prop Josh King found a gap left by Canberra captain Elliott Whitehead coming out of the defensive line.
After a series of first-half errors, Canberra fullback Kaeo Weekes made amends with a brilliant 90-metre run one minute into the second half to draw level with the NRL leaders 6-6.
Coates limped out of AAMI Park after trying to dive for the ball.
But Melbourne took the lead again when dummy midfielder Bronson Garlick found Shawn Blore, who scored four minutes later.
That margin was extended to 10 points when promising young centre Jack Howarth scored his first NRL try in the 51st minute.
Coates appeared to have sealed the game, but the video referee ruled there had been a knock-on, giving the Raiders hope of closing the gap.
However, being down to 15 men after losing debutant Jordan Martin, Ati Mariota and Jordan Rapana to head injuries made the formidable task even more difficult.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was pleased with his side’s response to recent heavy defeats, describing it as their “best defensive display this year” but said they gave the Storm too much of the ball.
“If you look at how many tackles we had to make to their tackles, it was almost double,” Stuart said.
“We can’t keep losing so many games, we’ve simply made it too difficult for ourselves.”
Stuart questioned some of the refereeing and bunker decisions, particularly the multiple six-over rucks that affected his team.
“We were on the wrong side of the guessing game again,” he said.
‘They’re just guessing, those six again, they’re just guessing.
‘One here and one there’.