The Melbourne Storm have revealed Xavier Coates is still likely a month away from returning from his Achilles injury.
While initial estimates had hoped Coates may be approaching a return by now, the star winger is only about to start full running, with Melbourne Storm director of football revealing he should be back playing within a month.
“Xavier is just about to start full running, which is a great sign. That will include some individual running until he puts enough miles into his legs to return to team training. After a couple weeks (training) with the team we're hoping he'll be back playing within the month, which will be a great boost for everyone," Ponissi said in a club medical update.
The Stor have missed Coates' presence at both ends of the park this season, with the club going on a historic six-week losing streak.
Coates will miss games against the Dolphins, Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels before potentially returning in Round 12 against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Given Origin teams for Game 1 are selected before that game, it also likely means Queensland will be looking for a new winger.
Elsewhere, the Storm have revealed Tui Kamikamica is back doing a small amount of training, but has no return date.
“Tui has started a small amount of training. He had a minor procedure (last week) which was successful and he's now recovering and resuming his rehab training (at the Club). There's no set date for Tui's return, we'll just monitor his rehab, but we're hopeful he'll play again in 2026," Ponissi said.
The Storm have also confirmed Jahrome Hughes is still tracking to only miss a single match with no damage to his wrist, and that Marion Seve should return within the next two months.
Ativalu Lisati was also close to playing last week, but the club chose to give him an extra week. He has been named to face the Dolphins this weekend.
“There’s no set date for Tui’s return, we’ll just monitor his rehab, but we’re hopeful he’ll play again in 2026,”
That is a strange statement. Tui is off-contract at the end of this season. The words “in 2026” superficially imply he’ll be back next year, but he was lucky to get an extra 12 months at the end of last season.
I suppose Mr Ponissi is trying to avoid saying “we hope he hasn’t played his last match for the Storm” or “we hope he hasn’t played the last match of his career”.
Let’s face it, once the season is over neither Melbourne or any other professional club will want to take the risk (or pay the medical insurance premiums) for a player who has had a stroke.