{"id":846998,"date":"2026-08-07T17:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/846998\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:02:13","slug":"nrl-2026-bulldogs-lose-sitili-tupouniua-to-hamstring-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/846998\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Bulldogs lose Sitili Tupouniua to hamstring injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roosters expect to have skipper James Tedesco back from injury in next week\u2019s battle for top spot with the Panthers, but the news isn\u2019t so good for the Bulldogs who could be without an enforcer for an extended period of time. <\/p>\n

Tedesco missed Friday\u2019s gripping 20-18 win at Allianz Stadium due to an ankle injury he suffered in the 70-point win over North Queensland last week, but coach Trent Robinson replied \u201cyou\u2019d think so\u201d when asked if the rep star would be back on Thursday.<\/p>\n

It would be a huge in for the Roosters who are now level with Penrith at the top of the table, with the Panthers to be without superstar lock forward Isaah Yeo who hurt his pec in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs have their own concerns after they lost enforcer Sitili Tupouniua to a hamstring issue just five minutes into his return from the same injury. <\/p>\n

He has been their best forward in 2026 and is set for scans to determine the extent of the injury. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot sure how bad it is, but he\u2019s felt it in the same spot where he injured it about eight weeks ago, so not ideal,\u201d Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pretty devastated because he was training really well and he was just excited to get back playing. This is what he does, this is what he loves doing, so he\u2019s pretty shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs have been one of the form teams of the competition but will finish the round outside the top eight after they conceded two tries in three minutes to surrender the lead in the second half. <\/p>\n

They showed in a 20-minute burst after half-time what they can do in attack after their defence kept them in the contest in the opening 40. <\/p>\n

It sets up a massive clash against the Rabbitohs next week, with Souths currently level with them on 26 points but with an extra game to play. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, we\u2019re not leaving here with any less confidence than what we came here with,\u201d Ciraldo said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t play the way we wanted to tonight. Roosters deserved the win. They were really good for periods, but I think they\u2019ll probably think they can play better as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know when we play our style of footy what we can do, but too many errors tonight didn\u2019t allow us to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018He\u2019s pretty devastated\u2019: Bulldogs lose Sitili Tupouniua to fresh hamstring injury ahead of crucial Souths clash with major finals implications<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Roosters expect to have skipper James Tedesco back from injury in next week\u2019s battle for top spot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[393682,417734,10968,417731,417746,387305,417725,417742,57709,417749,417723,417722,417750,417736,25653,64,63,4026,417729,417737,68839,417721,27289,417739,9116,96883,39598,394584,417726,378779,12979,3899,86430,5094,4415,417743,13307,417735,761,762,417747,51485,26673,158,417730,16284,3289,9120,129167,106063,417748,16282,85,171338,85271,81994,417728,380414,380422,377455,377667,417733,417727,377191,376754,417724,5991,378780,417744,174850,377482,417745,399663,380344,383393,377466,377215,214758,377140,377457,377217,414591,417740,417741,381433,417732,6618,76526,417738,16690,402377],"class_list":["post-846998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-battle","tag-s-gripping-20-18-win","tag-10968","tag-26-points","tag-a-20-minute-burst","tag-a-hamstring-issue","tag-a-massive-clash","tag-about-eight-weeks","tag-allianz-stadium","tag-an-ankle-injury","tag-an-enforcer","tag-an-extended-period","tag-an-extra-game","tag-any-less-confidence","tag-attack","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bulldogs","tag-bulldogs-coach-cameron-ciraldo","tag-ciraldo","tag-coach-trent-robinson","tag-crucial-souths-clash","tag-dogs-star","tag-enforcer-sitili-tupouniua","tag-footy","tag-fresh-hamstring-injury","tag-friday","tag-half-time","tag-his-pec","tag-his-return","tag-injuries","tag-injury","tag-injury-blow","tag-isaah-yeo","tag-james-tedesco","tag-just-five-minutes","tag-last-week","tag-major-finals-implications","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand-the-bulldogs","tag-next-week","tag-north-queensland","tag-nrl","tag-our-style","tag-penrith","tag-periods","tag-roosters","tag-scans","tag-sitili-tupouniua","tag-skipper-james-tedesco","tag-souths","tag-sports","tag-superstar","tag-table","tag-tedesco","tag-the-70-point-win","tag-the-bulldogs","tag-the-competition","tag-the-contest","tag-the-extent","tag-the-form-teams","tag-the-injury","tag-the-lead","tag-the-news","tag-the-opening-40","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-rabbitohs","tag-the-rep-star","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-round","tag-the-same-injury","tag-the-same-spot","tag-the-second-half","tag-the-table","tag-the-top","tag-the-top-eight","tag-the-way","tag-the-win","tag-their-best","tag-their-best-players","tag-their-defence","tag-their-heartbreaking-loss","tag-their-own-concerns","tag-three-minutes","tag-thursday-it","tag-time","tag-tonight","tag-too-many-errors","tag-top-spot","tag-two-tries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846998","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=846998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}