{"id":840157,"date":"2026-08-02T16:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840157\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:41:12","slug":"nrl-news-2026-mitch-kenny-injury-update-penrith-panthers-return-delayed-spine-changes-blaize-talagi-dropped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840157\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Mitch Kenny injury update, Penrith Panthers return delayed, spine changes, Blaize Talagi dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penrith<\/a> could be without their premiership-winning hooker until the 2026 finals series, after Mitch Kenny\u2019s return to play was delayed by another month. <\/p>\n

Kenny has been on the sidelines since April due to a fractured fibula<\/a> as well as a syndesmosis injury – and he may now not return until September.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch<\/p>\n

Mitch Kenny will remain on the sidelines a little longer\u00a0nna\\Jorgebranco<\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> reports Kenny\u2019s recovery has taken longer than the Panthers were initially hoping, despite undergoing successful surgery. <\/p>\n

A number of changes to his rehabilitation program have been made due to complications to ensure Kenny makes a full recovery.<\/p>\n

Ivan Cleary<\/a> has made clear that Kenny\u2019s situation is week-by-week, seemingly in no rush to risk any further damage to the dummy-half.<\/p>\n

Luckily for the ladder-leaders, Freddy Lussick has filled the hole left by Kenny. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a disrupted period for Penrith\u2019s spine with Kenny out for an extended period and Dylan Edwards spending the past week on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Cleary then made a huge selection call for round 22 by dropping young gun Blaize Talagi<\/a> to reserve grade in favour of the reliable Jack Cogger.<\/p>\n

Andrew Johns<\/a> believes the Panthers should stick with Cogger for the rest of the year, allowing Talagi to make the necessary adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan [Cleary] and Jack Cogger work so well together. Cogger unlocks Nathan\u2019s running game,\u201d he said on Nine\u2019s Sunday Footy Show. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think [you stick with Cogger], but it depends on Blaize and how his defence is. I just think Cogger frees Nathan up to play ad-lib footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Fittler<\/a> agreed, but refused to rule out a potential return for Talagi.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at both of them, you would say that Blaize has a little bit more flair and creativity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a pretty good relationship with Casey McLean, but Jack Cogger is so solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melbourne great and Maroons coach Billy Slater<\/a> wants to see Penrith include both Cogger and Talagi in the 19-man squad moving forward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blaize Talagi has been dropped by Penrith.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in time they will be both be in the team,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir best football is when both of them are in the 19 somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penrith will face the New Zealand Warriors on Friday evening. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penrith could be without their premiership-winning hooker until the 2026 finals series, after Mitch Kenny\u2019s return to play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-840157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}