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Brown sweats on Eels scan amid Origin wait

3 minute read

Parramatta lock Nathan Brown has a nervous wait for the results of scans on his hip with the State of Origin period just over a month away.

NATHAN BROWN
NATHAN BROWN Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

Parramatta lock Nathan Brown is sweating on the result of scans after suffering a suspected hip pointer injury in his team's NRL win over Canterbury.

Brown went down untouched as he turned to chase an intercept in the first half of the 32-10 win, initially prompting fears of a serious leg injury.

However, those concerns have subsided with the pain in the hip, with the Eels believing it could stem from trying to tackle Ava Seumanufagai moments earlier.

The 28-year-old was sent for scans after the game on Saturday night, with the Eels awaiting the results.

If it is a hip pointer, the Eels are hopeful he would miss only a few weeks and return within three matches.

Any longer out could spell trouble for Brown's State of Origin hopes.

The Fairfield junior played the last two matches for NSW at the end of last year, and the Blues team for game one in Melbourne will be picked in four weeks' time.

"It was more of a contact injury from a tackle before in the set before. So fingers crossed," coach Brad Arthur said.

"He got whacked on the hip so maybe it's a hip pointer. I'm not sure. He'll have the scans to see where we get to."

The Eels do at least have cover.

Isiaah Papali'i has been superb in the second row and would be the logical choice to go to lock having played middle at the Warriors.

That would then allow Shaun Lane to return to the starting side, after being squeezed out on Saturday due to Ryan Matterson's return and Papali'i's form.

Beyond them, hooker Reed Mahoney is still enjoying the best two months of his career in the middle.

His effort to bust down field and put Clint Gutherson over for Parramatta's first on Saturday was his seventh assist of the year.

Now 64 games into his career, the Queenslander is running the ball far more often with double the amount of metres in return compared to last year.

"He's a real effort-based player," Arthur said.

"He works extremely hard during the week, so I'm happy that he's getting a few opportunities off some quick play-the-balls to run.

"He's just thinking 'run' and then whatever happens on the back of that he's not trying to place any pressure on himself by trying to overplay his hand too much."

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