New South Wales Blues forward Payne Haas has suffered an ankle injury at training on Friday morning.
The star forward, who will lead the pack into battle for Brad Fittler next Wednesday evening at the Adelaide Oval, is set to suit up for his 11th Origin match.
In a Blues pack short on depth after the withdrawal of Jake Trbojevic among others, Haas was likely to play big minutes after starting the contest. His form this year has him in the discussion to be the prop of the year.
Widely reported on social media, Haas went down with an ankle injury during training and attempted to walk it off before heading to the sideline where he began icing.
Payne Haas just gone down at Blues training. Walking it off atm, see what comes of it.
— RugbyLeagueGuru (@RL_Guru) May 26, 2023
News Corp's David Riccio said Blues' advisor Greg Alexander told him the icing was "precautionary" and that the Blues camp expect he will be fit to train on Sunday following a day off tomorrow.
JUST IN: Blues advisor Greg Alexander has confirmed Payne Haas has sprained his ankle. Precautionary icing at this stage. Alexander says Haas will train on Sunday. @telegraph_sport
— David Riccio (@DaveRic1) May 26, 2023
The Blues' session in Sydney on Sunday will be their last with that session to be held at Homebush. They will then fly to Adelaide on Monday ahead of the game on Wednesday.
While Haas is expected to be fit to play in Origin 1 on Wednesday night, Stefano Utoikamanu is on standby in camp as the 19th man. He will remain with the squad and is set to fly to Adelaide alongside 18th man Stephen Crichton. Both the Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers have byes this weekend in the NRL.
This is Utoikamanu's second appearance in an Origin camp, although he is yet to debut for his state, having played junior Origins prior to his NRL debut.
