Harry Grant is reportedly battling a painful sternum injury and is in some doubt for State of Origin 3, in what would be a massive blow for Queensland if he doesn’t play. Grant was a surprise omission from the Melbourne Storm to take on the Wests Tigers this weekend, with the club saying they opted to give him another week of rest to keep him fresh for the run to the NRL finals.
Grant suffered a nasty cut to the head in Origin 2 that required stitches, and the Storm rested him last weekend for their win over the Raiders. The Storm’s head of football Frank Ponissi revealed on Wednesday that star hooker Grant is dealing with some aches and pains, and they chose to sit him out for the second week running.
“After discussions with the medical staff and Craig [Bellamy], it was felt that we’d give Harry another week off,” Ponissi said. “He’s been carrying a lot of bumps and bruises, he has played a lot of football this year and he’s had two tough Origin matches. We thought it was in his best interests to give him a break this week again … it will freshen him up for the back-end of the season.”
Leading journalist David Riccio revealed on SEN radio on Wednesday morning that rumours are circulating Grant is dealing with a sternum injury. And Phil Gould reported that his mail is Grant is in doubt to take his place in the Maroons’ side for the Origin decider.
“He’s got a sternum injury, I think he’s in doubt for Origin,” he said on the Six Tackles With Gus podcast. “I think it will be a risk to play him – those things don’t come good overnight. That’s my mail, I might be wrong.”
Grant’s absence would be a huge blow for Queensland in the series decider at Suncorp Stadium. Billy Slater has been using Grant as a weapon off the bench in tandem with starting hooker Ben Hunt.
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Will Billy Slater pick Kalyn Ponga after one game back?
If Grant is ruled out, Slater might opt to play Hunt for 80 minutes at dummy-half, or he could look to someone like Reed Mahoney if he wants another specialist hooker on the bench. With Kalyn Ponga making his return for Newcastle this weekend, Slater also might be tempted to pick him on the bench.
But according to Queensland great Corey Parker, Ponga could also find himself starting at fullback if he has a blinder against Canberra this weekend. Reece Walsh has been the Maroons fullback for the majority of the last two series, but was rusty and off the boil in Queensland’s huge loss in Origin 2.
“There has to be some serious conversations with the Queensland selectors about putting [Ponga] back in the team somewhere,” Parker said. “Does Queensland start him at fullback, or could he be that super sub off the bench?
“The reality is Reece got heavily knocked out in Origin 1 and he hasn’t played a lot of football since. It was a tough night for him in Origin 2. Reece Walsh is a wonderful talent but he doesn’t own the Queensland No.1 jumper. Billy Slater owned it for a long time but Reece hasn’t been around long enough to have a mortgage on the fullback spot.
“If Walsh has a good game against the Panthers, well that would basically seal his spot, but if he has another flat performance, the door has to be open for Kalyn. If KP puts a good game together on Sunday, there has to be some internal conversations.
“I don’t know if Billy will go that way, but he has to think about it. I suspect there are going to be a lot of points in this decider and Kalyn got man-of-the-match in the decider two years ago. Whether he is 1 or 14, I’m not sure, but I just think Kalyn Ponga can win the game for Queensland.”