The Melbourne Storm's season has gotten off to a horror start, with both Brandon Smith and George Jennings taken from the field inside the opening half an hour of their clash against the Wests Tigers, before Christian Welch joined them in the final minutes.
Smith was the first to come from the field in the opening minutes of the game with what appeared to be a hand injury.
The New Zealand international hooker appeared to sustain the injury in the third tackle of the game on Joe Ofahenague. He played through for another minute and a half, pictured packing into a scrum with one hand before running off the field under his own steam almost three minutes later.
It has been revealed that Smith has a suspected fractured hand, with suggestions he could miss anywhere between three and six weeks of action.
Brandon Smith out for the game with a suspected fractured left hand suffered in this tackle. If confirmed return to play can be as quick as 3 weeks (surgical stabilisation w pins/plates speeds up recovery) with the majority falling in the 3-6 week range pic.twitter.com/bsX2zOz43D
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 12, 2022
Harry Grant will return for the Storm next week, meaning it should be a straight swap in the number nine jumper.
Smith was pictured in a sling upon his return to the interchange bench.
Jennings meanwhile was brought to a standstill in a non-contact injury during the 24th minute, clutching at his knee after a run on the edge.
Fox League sideline reporter Jake Duke said the on-field tests had immediately identified a probable ACL injury for Jennings, who will have scans on Monday to confirm the severity of the injury.
"Not good news from the Storm bench," Duke said.
"The early diagnosis with George Jennings after assessing that knee is they think an ACL injury, which is the worst-case scenario."
An ACL injury would leave Jennings out for the remainder of the season, with Dean Ieremia the most likely replacement.
Christian Welch was the final injury for the Storm. He, like Jennings, went down in a non-contact injury, with the Storm reporting it to be a calf or Achilles injury shortly afterwards.
The Welchy update we were dreading...suspected ruptured achilles for the skipper ๐ข
— Melbourne Storm (@storm) March 12, 2022
The club's doctors originally appeared to be asking for a stretcher, before Welch walked off the field with assistant.
Duke on the sideline said the club were reporting it to be not a knee injury.
"The early word out of the Storm. They don't think it's a knee injury. They are saying it's a calf slash Achilles," Duke said.
The Storm would eventually run out 26 points to 16 winners.
