The Wests Tigers’ victory over the Titans on Sunday was marred by another serious injury for Benji Marshall’s side, with gun back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul suffering a pec injury. The Englishman walked from the field early in the second half after reeling away from a tackle in which he hung his arm out.
The Tigers said Pearce-Paul would go for scans, and they’ll be hoping it’s not the worst-case scenario. According to leading physio Brien Seeney, a ruptured pec would require surgery and a three-month recovery, which would be season over for KPP.
Kai Pearce-Paul suffered a pec injury in the Tigers’ win over the Titans. Image: Channel 9/Getty
Seeney wrote on social media that the “traumatic nature” of the mechanism and the fact Pearce-Paul was taken from the field immediately would suggest a “moderate to high grade injury” and “potentially surgery”, which would be a devastating blow. Tigers teammate Royce Hunt suffered the same injury last week, meaning both are in doubt to play again this NRL season.
“It reminded me a lot of the Royce Hunt one,” Seeney said on the ‘Magic Sponge’ podcast on Sunday night. “That leads me towards thinking it’s at least a partial tear, which would be 4-6 weeks best case, but it really isn’t looking good for a complete rupture.”
A silver lining on the situation is that even if Pearce-Paul misses the rest of the NRL season, he’ll likely be back in time for the World Cup at the end of the year. KPP will be one of England’s top players as they seek to knock off the likes of Australia and New Zealand.
Kai Pearce-Paul and Royce Hunt both suffered the same injury in consecutive weeks. Image: Getty
Jarome Luai silences critics after Tigers victory
The injuries to Pearce-Paul and Hunt continue a wretched run for the Tigers, with Adam Doueihi, Alex Twal and Samuela Fainu also on the sidelines. Fainu is out until Round 20 with a foot injury, while Twal isn’t expected back until Round 18 with a knee issue.
Doueihi was initially expected back this weekend in Round 16, but is reportedly behind schedule in his return from a shoulder injury. On Sunday, skipper Jarome Luai stepped up with a second-half hat-trick to secure a much-needed 36-28 win for the Tigers.
Luai has come under heavy fire since announcing he’s signed with PNG, and the Tigers have fallen out of the top-eight since that time. (Benji Marshall) sat me down one day and said just wipe all of that – they (teammates) love you for who I am,” Luai said on Sunday night. “They need me to bring my best. This is going to be the start of that, so I’m looking forward to next week.”