Sydney Roosters five-eighth Drew Hutchison was taken to hospital with broken ribs and a possible punctured lung after copping Dylan Brown’s knees in his back in Friday’s dramatic 31-18 NRL loss to Parramatta.
In a game where the Roosters also lost Victor Radley early to a concussion and young half Sam Walker played through an ankle injury, Hutchison’s injury was of serious concern for the already understrength side.
In a troubling passage of play, 26-year-old Hutchison was trying to score when Brown landed dangerously on his back with his knees while scrambling in defence.
Brown was placed on report, but the Eels half was controversially allowed to remain on the field instead of spending time in the sin bin.
Should Brown have been binned, the Roosters would have been able to call on 18th man Joseph Suaalii to make his NRL debut.
The incident happened at the end of the first half and Hutchison was in agony before being helped from the field and into an ambulance.
The injuries come at the worst possible time for the Roosters (6-3) who already have a packed casualty ward with Luke Keary, Boyd Cordner, Sam Verrills, Jake Friend, Brett Morris and Lindsay Collins all sidelined.
The Eels took their season record to 8-1 but, as well as concerns for Brown, they will be sweating on the NRL charge sheet for Marata Niukore, who had a wild minute with two shoulder charges.
The Eels centre went unpunished for a late shoulder on Walker before collecting James Tedesco high with a similar hit a minute later at the end of the first half.
He was placed on report for the shoulder charge on Tedesco but was remarkably allowed to stay on the field despite an edict from the NRL earlier this week encouraging referees to use the sinbin.
Despite the slew of dramas for Trent Robinson’s men, the Roosters put up a brave defensive performance against the Eels who had injuries of their own.
NSW Origin forward Nathan Brown was ruled out with a hip injury pre-game, while hooker Reed Mahoney was knocked out in a tackle towards the end of the second half and didn’t return to the field.
The Roosters started fast with a stunning try to Matt Ikuvalu, who defied gravity to score after five minutes.
By the time he landed his third try in the 64th minute, the Roosters had had just eight tackles in the opposition 20 metre zone, compared to Parramatta’s 51.
With the injuries and weight of possession, the Roosters simply ran out of energy.
Improved Eels second-rower Bryce Cartwright landed a double, while Brown, Tom Opacic and Blake Ferguson also scored tries.
Unbeaten Panthers thump disappointing Sharks
AAP: Dean Lewins
)Penrith’s record-breaking start to the NRL season has taken them to the best start of any side in 25 years, after annihilating Cronulla 48-0 on Friday night.
Nathan Cleary again starred for the Panthers in their domination, while winger Charlie Staines got a hat-trick and Stephen Crichton was sublime inside him.
Already 9-0 for the first time in the club’s history, the Panthers became the first side to chalk up a +200 points differential inside nine rounds since Sydney City in 1996.
The shut-out marked the third time this season they have held a team scoreless, while the 60 points conceded is the least of any side after round nine since Parramatta in 1986.
Cronulla, meanwhile, are in turmoil.
They have now lost five straight games, having not picked up a win since coach John Morris was sacked last month.
Half-back Chad Townsend was hooked after 50 minutes for Matt Moylan to come on, while Shaun Johnson’s kicking game was particularly poor.
Such was Penrith’s dominance, full-back Will Kennedy ran just 23 metres as they were rarely given space to return the ball.
Penrith’s party started inside seven minutes when Api Koroisau went short to James Fisher-Harris for the prop’s first four-pointer in more than two years.
Staines had his first from a simple sweep play, when Nathan Cleary went right and helped Dylan Edwards put the flyer over.
It was 18-0 inside 20 minutes when Kurt Capewell batted back a Cleary kick and Isaah Yeo got the ball away for Crichton.
At that point the Sharks were completing at 50 per cent and Penrith were yet to make an error.
The Panthers’ next try was a pearler.
After a typical Cleary underarm flick pass found Jarome Luai, the five-eighth jinked and offloaded for his centre Matt Burton to hit a gap and go over.
That made it 24-0 at half-time, and while the Panthers took the foot off after the break Staines was still able to complete his hat-trick off two perfect right-edge movements.
Viliame Kikau and Matt Eisenhuth also both touched down off grubbers, as the Panthers’ took their aggregate scoreline in their last three games against Cronulla to 142-36.
Making matters worse for the Sharks, Jesse Ramien finished the night with a suspected fractured eye socket from an accidental Kikau elbow.
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AAP
