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Season ends for injured Roosters pair

3 minute read

The NRL season is over for Sydney Roosters pair Victor Radley and Sam Verrills after Friday's win over St George Illawarra.

VICTOR RADLEY.
VICTOR RADLEY. Picture: Tony Feder/Getty Images

Sydney Roosters pair Victor Radley and Sam Verrills will miss the remainder of the NRL season after the club confirmed ACL injuries for both players on Saturday.

Isaac Liu will join them in the casualty ward with broken ribs, as the Roosters count the costs of one of their gutsiest wins in years.

Radley and Verrills underwent scans after they were taken from the field with knee injuries at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night, and the pair will visit a surgeon on Monday.

A usual recovery time is between six and nine months, which will force the end of their season, while a timeline for Liu's return to field is not yet known.

The news follows Friday night's 26-12 win over St George Illawarra, which tested the toughness of the NRL premiers.

Already without James Tedesco (concussion), Josh Morris (calf) and Nat Butcher (ribs), the Roosters went down to 15 men after 22 minutes with Radley and Verrills forced off the field before half-time.

Robinson also revealed winger Brett Morris couldn't sit down in meetings all week due to back complaints before he scored a hat-trick in the win.

"It was really incredible some of the performances out there," Robinson said.

"Really proud of them.

"It's easy to talk up the Roosters at the moment.

"But it's not that for that reason. I've said it before I really like walking in to coach these guys every single day. They're just outstanding.

"It was just little things here and there, they just kept adapting and moving. They got stronger defensively as the game went."

In response, the Roosters' middle stood up.

Sio Siua Taukeiaho played unchanged for 80 minutes, while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was out there for all but eight of them.

"They just said: 'We've got this'," Robinson said.

"We went out there and (trainer) Travis Touma got told to go away, politely.

"They actually sent a message back to me, and said we've got this half.

Joey Manu was also good at fullback, setting up one of the tries of the year as he bombed, chased through, leapt to regather and flicked the ball back to Waerea-Hargreaves to score.

"Joey played fullback twice last year. I feel like his backfield carries have really improved at centre this year," Robinson said.

"And I think we saw that at fullback.

"His carries were really good. His creativity, that Joey has on both sides of the field, was needed."

The Roosters have confirmed Tedesco, Josh Morris and Butcher are in no doubt for next week's heavyweight clash with Melbourne on Thursday night.

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