Tom Dearden suffered what appeared to be a serious ankle injury on Friday night in an incident that looks to have State of Origin ramifications for both NSW and Queensland. Dearden was dragged down from behind by Josh Addo-Carr and Joash Papalii with 12 minutes remaining in the Eels’ 33-30 victory.
The Queensland halfback initially tried to play on through the pain, but eventually had to come from the field looking very hobbled. He was spotted with ice on his ankle after the game looking very despondent.
Tom Dearden hurt his ankle in a tackle from Josh Addo-Carr. Image: Channel 9/Getty
Cowboys coach Todd Payten said Dearden will get scans on Saturday to determine the severity of the injury. And leading physio Brien Seeney said there’s “concern for syndesmosis injury (high ankle sprain) with foot getting caught and turning out rapidly under force”.
Seeney said he’s seen similar mechanisms result in moderate to high-grade sprains, which involve multi-week recoveries. Roosters winger Mark Nawaqanitawase is spending the net 6-8 weeks on the sidelines with a syndesmosis injury that required surgery.
With State of Origin 1 just two weeks away, Dearden will be praying it’s not that serious. Daly Cherry-Evans, Sam Walker and Tanah Boyd will all come into consideration if Dearden is ruled out of the Origin opener.
Josh Addo-Carr facing possible suspension
But it’s not just Queensland holding their breath after the Dearden incident. Addo-Carr will also be hoping he doesn’t cop a suspension for the tackle that caused the injury.
The Parramatta winger has worked his way into NSW contention in the last few weeks, with Blues coach Laurie Daley unsure of who will play wing. But anything more than a one-game ban will rule Addo-Carr out of Origin 1.
Tom Dearden looked shattered in the dressing sheds. Image: Channel 9
He wasn’t put on report or sin-binned on Friday night, but his tackle had a distinct hip-drop feel to it. Addo-Carr grabbed Dearden’s upper body and then lost his legs, before his weight came down directly onto Dearden’s ankle. We’ve already seen Ryan Couchman and Kodi Nikorima cop multi-week suspensions this year for hip-drop tackles that caused serious injury.
Discussing the situation on Channel 9, Queensland coach Billy Slater said he didn’t think Addo-Carr has anything to worry about. “I don’t think there was anything illegal in the incident,” Slater said. “It was just one of those things where he came down a bit awkwardly. Hopefully Tom Dearden is fine.”