New Zealand Warriors coach Andrew Webster has confirmed dummy half Wayde Egan was taken to hospital as a precaution after the club's tight win over the Wests Tigers in Hamilton on Saturday evening.
Egan was taken from the field shortly before halftime after being collected by a Stefano Utoikamanu forearm while attempting to make a tackle.
Utoikamanu was controversially placed on report for the incident, with both Tigers' coach Tim Ssheens and injured playmaker Adam Doueihi taking exception to the officiating on display.
Webster said post-game that the decision for Egan to head to hospital was purely precautionary.
โHe's gone to hospital for a check-up, it was just more precautionary, if you get hit in the throat and something goes wrong you want to be in hospital,โ Webster said during his post-game press conference.
โNothing has gone wrong, he's okay but the safest place for him was to get a check up and I'm glad our medical team did that.โ
The injury left fans fearing bad news for Egan, with the NRL recently seeing an increase in the number of attacking players making contact - mostly unintentional - with defenders.
Apisai Koroisau had his jaw broken earlier this season by a similar incident, while Andrew Fifita was placed in an induced coma during 2021 after being hit in the throat before making a recovery to play again in 2022.
Egan passed his head injury assessment after the incident, meaning that if there are no issues with his throat, he will be able to play next weekend as the Warriors continue their fight for a top-four spot.
The Warriors sit in third place on the table after Saturday's win and are now increasingly likely to have booked a top-four finish which will give them a second chance in the finals. To leap over either the Brisbane Broncos or Penrith Panthers ahead of them, however, they will need results to go their way.
A third or fourth-placed finish however guarantees the Warriors of a home final, whether that be in Week 2 after a Week 1 loss, or in Week 3 after a Week 1 win.
