Four Origin Players Officially In Doubt

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Four players are in doubt for their NRL clubs this weekend after the carnage of Wednesday night's State of Origin series opener.

NSW's Mitchell Pearce and Queensland duo Anthony Milford and Justin O'Neill and are all considered extremely unlikely to play due to concussions, while Blues hooker Nathan Peats is struggling to overcome a cork.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has also indicated Cameron Smith could be rested for Friday night's clash with Newcastle.

The injuries mean the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane will be robbed of their most-attacking halves in Pearce and Milford for Saturday night's blockbuster at Allianz Stadium.

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett will also monitor the workloads of his club's veteran forwards at training on Friday before making a call on whether to make Josh McGuire, Matt Gillett and Sam Thaiday available for the game.

The Roosters also had their players undergo a medical on Thursday afternoon, with prop Dylan Napa carrying a leg injury.

It's understood Pearce is keen to play, but will have to pass significant testing to be declared fit after being knocked out by a Will Chambers high shot in NSW's 28-4 win.

Meanwhile, North Queensland centre O'Neill is understood to be suffering the after effects of being hurt in a Jarryd Hayne tackle late in the game.

He went off for a head injury assessment and is a near certainty to miss the Cowboys' game against the Gold Coast.

Peats is doing all he can to play in that fixture for the Titans after suffering a severe leg cork, but is also considered highly unlikely to play.

Elsewhere, Canterbury are confident all three of their Origin players will be fit to take on Penrith on Sunday, while St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers have no concerns over their representative duos before Saturday's clash.

Manly will wait until Saturday before they know whether Nate Myles will recover from an elbow injury to face Canberra, while both Jake Trbojevic and the Raiders' Josh Papalii are certain to play on Sunday.

The Warriors have confirmed Jacob Lillyman has no concerns to take on Parramatta at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.

1 June 2017




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