NRL: Injury-free win tops wishlist

Steve Price is one of seven Warriors unavailable for today's game because of injury. Photo / Getty Images

Next after securing the two competition points against the Rabbitohs today, the Warriors will want to finish the game without any more injuries.

After only three rounds, the Warriors have a worryingly long injury list that threatens to knock them off their title course.

Last weekend, Brent Tate was invalided out for the season with a knee injury, joining Lance Hohaia (knee), Ben Matulino (ankle), Manu Vatuvei (knee), Leeson Ah Mau (shoulder) and Evarn Tuimavave (neck) on the sidelines.

And skipper Steve Price became the latest casualty when he was ruled out of today's game against the Rabbitohs with a haematoma on his throat picked up a fortnight ago against the Sea Eagles.

The disruptions have meant the Warriors haven't yet been able to complete a match this season with their full complement of 17 players.

The club have talked about improved depth in 2009 but this is being tested and there is no one in the squad who can replace the likes of Tate, Vatuvei, Price and Hohaia.

They're not the only club being stretched early in the season.

Before round three, there were 55 first-graders on the treatment table, an average of 3.4 players at each club.

The Knights were hardest hit, with nine players unavailable, including Jarod Mullen (rib - out until round six), Cameron Ciraldo (ankle - out for season), Steve Simpson (hamstring - round six) and Wes Naiqama (knee - round five).

Only the Penrith Panthers reported no injuries.

"That's probably normal," Warriors coach Ivan Cleary says of the 55 players absent from round three. "Most weeks, you budget for four guys out of your squad of 25. We have had long periods when we haven't had that but now they are coming on the back of each other."

Warriors doctor John Mayhew said there tended to be a spike in injuries early in the season as players got used to the rigours of matches and towards the end of the season as fatigue set in.

"That's a phenomenon observed

a lot in sport," Mayhew says. "We have a slightly higher injury rate than last year.

"There are always fluctuations and they tend to average out. We might have six weeks of being injury free now. We look at causes but we can't find any obvious answers."

There is one train of thought that clubs have been caught out with the increased pace of the game.

The introduction of the two referees has resulted in fewer delays for things such as video referee referrals, which has resulted in games being five minutes shorter than last season (in round one, games were 86.3 minutes compared to 91.6 minutes in the corresponding round in 2008).

Only 31 decisions were sent to the video referee in the first two rounds this season, compared with 58 in 2008.

"I didn't really budget for that," Cleary says of the speed of the game. "I didn't think it would have this big an effect but everyone will work it out pretty quickly."

The Warriors' injuries, however, cannot be pinned on fatigue. Tate ruptured his knee after 25 minutes last weekend, Hohaia played only 18 minutes and Matulino 14 in round one, Ah Mau played 22 minutes and Tuimavave was injured pre-season.

"A lot of it just comes down to luck," Mayhew says. "The AFL judge their trainers on the frequency of soft tissue injuries, like calf and hamstring strains. It's a bit tough but it's a good way of looking at it. The Warriors' injuries are not through a lack of conditioning."

Interestingly, most of the injuries affecting the Warriors have happened to those who played in last year's World Cup - Tate, Hohaia, Vatuvei, Tuimavave and Price.

Rugby league has always prided itself on the fact players back up every week for 26 gruelling rounds and then playoffs. None of this rotation malarky for which rugby union is notorious.

Maybe they ought to consider it, particularly as bigger, stronger and faster players run into bigger, stronger and faster opponents.

"Most players in the NRL are wandering around with injuries," Cleary says, "it just depends how bad they are. Recovery has been important for a while but now more than ever.

"You really have to get that right to try to get the boys as fresh and ready to go as possible. Some guys need rest from playing, others just need rest from training."

They will get both if the injury list continues to mount.