First it was Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and then Chanel Harris-Tavita who defied the pain barrier and now it has been revealed teenaged Vodafone Warriors centre Viliami Vailea played the second half with a broken jaw in Saturday’s encounter with Newcastle.
The 19-year-old had surgery yesterday but it’s not yet known how long he will be out for.
After taking a knock in a collision just before halftime, Vailea returned for the second 40 minutes.
He had 10 minutes off the field for an HIA after a head knock but was cleared to return and saw out the contest. In fact, in the dying stages he was denied a late try while taking another shot to the head.
Vailea had helped the Vodafone Warriors to a hot start with a try in the eighth minute, his fifth in six appearances this season.
He finished the match with 101 metres from nine runs, a line break, four tackle breaks and five tackles.
Vailea’s display of toughness comes after Harris-Tavita played 45 minutes with a ruptured testicle against Melbourne on Anzac Day.
Harris-Tavita made his comeback from surgery in last weekend’s match against the Knights.
Watene-Zelezniak also showed his high threshold for pain in the opening match of the season against St George Illawarra. He broke his left thumb in the opening minute of the contest but played the whole 80 minutes on a day when he also scored a try.
INJURY REPORT |
||
|---|---|---|
| Tom Ale | Knee | Mid-July |
| Josh Curran | Knee | Round 14 |
| Addin Fonua-Blake | Foot | TBC |
| Viliami Vailea | Jaw | TBC |
