NRL 2023, Injuries, suspension, return dates, casualty ward and key information for the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership season

Casualty Ward: Knee surgery for Koula; Positive news for Titans

Author: NRL.com
Timestamp: Mon 27 Mar 2023, 09:26 PM

Boom Manly centre Tolu Koula will undergo knee surgery on Tuesday after suffering an MCL injury in Saturday night's 13-12 golden point loss to South Sydney at Accor Stadium.

Sea Eagles officials said the 20-year-old was expected to be out for between four to six weeks.

The Dolphins have confirmed Sean O’Sullivan suffered a full tendon rupture of his pectoral muscle against the Broncos on Friday night.

The injury is set to require a rehab period of 12 to 16 weeks, meaning the halfback is unlikely to be back before the end of June.

Fellow Dolphin Tesi Niu also faces at least four weeks on the sideline after playing through damage to his medial collateral ligament in his knee, while Kodi Nikorima has been cleared of any fractures after being ruled out of the game with a facial injury.

The Cowboys have confirmed that Origin centre Murray Taulagi faces 4-6 weeks on the sideline after suffering an MCL injury late in the first half against the Titans and teammate Gehamat Shibasaki will miss 2-3 weeks after picking up a hamstring strain.

Veteran prop James Tamou was sent for scans on his injured foot on Sunday and will meet with specialists this week before a timeframe is set for his return.

The Titans have received some positive news on stars Kieran Foran and AJ Brimson, who both suffered injuries against the Titans.

Brimson suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain which will keep him on the sidelines for up to four weeks while Foran is hoping for a return in around three weeks after suffering a calf strain.

Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty was a late withdrawal from his side's Round 4 match against Newcastle, with the club saying he was out with a virus.

Warriors captain Tohu Harris left the field early in the second half of Sunday's win over the Bulldogs with a knee injury he suffered just before half-time.

After coming back out to play the first four minutes of the second half, Harris was ruled out, but coach Andrew Webster said his skipper was optimistic it wasn't too serious.

"He feels like he's done [it] before and doesn't think it'll be too long, but we don't know," Webster said.

"Typical Tohu, he wanted to play the second half, but we could see he wasn't moving well so we took him off."

Canterbury meanwhile confirmed forward Fa'amanu Brown suffered a dislocated elbow early in the second half.

Penrith back-rower Liam Martin was removed from the squad that faced the Eels on Thursday night due to a hamstring injury.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said post-match that the setback was considered minor for the Kangaroos representative and he could return against the Raiders in Round 5.

The Panthers lost Soni Luke to a failed head injury assessment during the match with the bench hooker to undergo concussion protocols.

To view the complete NRL Casualty Ward, please visit the hub page.