Anthony Seibold has provided an update on the injury of winger Jason Saab after the speedster left the field with four minutes to go in the club's season-opener.
With just minutes to go in the game, Saab was looking to run onto a ball down the right-hand wing but pulled up on his run, immediately grabbing at his hamstring.
He played no further part in the game and was taken from the field by the team's trainer as Manly defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the first time since 2019.
"Anytime you see one of your real speed men pull up like that, it's not ideal. Obviously, he'll get scans when we get back to Australia," Seibold said after the game.
"We've got a long turnaround and it's probably doubtful he'll play in that Roosters game but whenever you see a player come off with a hamstring injury it's never going to be a five or seven day turnaround."
Jason Saab off with a right hamstring strain - classic sprinting mechanism. Was hitting a good speed as he suffered it - tough to escape those situations with a minor strain. Even with a 2 week gap til Manly’s Rd 2 clash, real chance he misses multiple games here #NRLVegas pic.twitter.com/oZESsH55G2
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 3, 2024
With Jaxson Paulo already selected on the other wing and Christian Tuipulotu moved onto the St George Illawarra Dragons late in the off-season, two candidates have stood out to replace him if needed.
Recruited from the Wests Tigers, Tommy Talau is the obvious replacement, while Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega can also be seen as a potential option.
"We've got Ray Vaega who was fighting really hard with Jaxon Paulo for that left-wing position...and another one I thought was a standout over the pre-season and unlucky not to be in the team was Tommy Talau," Seibold added.
"Tommy was really good for us. I think Tommy can play on the wing, play centre, so we've got a couple of options there."
The Manly Sea Eagles' next match is on Sunday, March 17, against the Sydney Roosters at Brookvale Oval, with both clubs coming off victories in Las Vegas.
