The Gold Coast Titans have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their return to Cbus Super Stadium against the Sharks on Saturday, with skipper Kevin Proctor and winger Phil Sami both ruled out with injury.
Titans officials feared the worst when the pair went down in separate training incidents on Wednesday.
But scans late yesterday at least provided some relief from concerns Proctor and Sami would be missing long-term, with specialists advising neither player would need surgery.
Proctor suffered a ruptured bicep and will miss at least the next two matches, while Sami faces up to six weeks on the sideline after dislocating his shoulder.
Titans coach Justin Holbrook said the loss of Proctor and Sami was a setback as his team aims for back-to-back wins this weekend.
“It is obviously disappointing when you lose any player to injury, but particularly two of our best players and two guys who had been playing some good footy,” Holbrook said.
“The positive news is I guess that the scans came back with much better results than we had initially feared, and they will at least be back on the field relatively soon.
“The other thing is that incidents like this provide an opportunity for other players to get a chance, so we expect the guys that are given that opportunity to make the most of it.”
One of those players to receive his opportunity is rookie Beau Fermor, who will make his NRL debut after being called into the NRL squad – becoming Titan No.157 when he runs onto Cbus Super Stadium.
“Beau has not put a foot wrong since coming to the Club, and has really worked hard after his knee injury to get himself ready for the NRL,” Holbrook said.
“In an ideal world, we would have liked to have given him an extra week, but he has been banging on the door for a while now, and was impressive in the scrimmage match last weekend against Brisbane to show he was ready to step up.”
Holbrook will wait until game day to finalise his 17-man squad to play the Sharks.
