Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant will miss the next two weeks with a hamstring injury, however, will be available for selection in State of Origin I, according to GM Frank Ponissi.
The Melbourne hooker was a late withdrawal from last week’s loss to the Dolphins, where the Storm sorely missed their leader, giving up a 16-2 lead to lose 42-22.
“Harry is going to miss the next two games… we’re hoping he’ll be back the week after against the Wests Tigers,” Ponissi said on SEN 1170 Mornings.
“He’ll be touch and go for that but if he’s not available for that, he’ll be available for the last game before Origin I which is the Sharks up in Sydney.
“Every club gets (injuries), it’s just how you deal with them. We know at the start of the year you’re going to get them; you’re going to have bad periods.
“We coped really well last year when we got the injuries, last Friday night we did not cope well so the next month, we need to make a real effort to carry on without some key players in the team.”
The question for Queensland coach Billy Slater then becomes whether he risks his star hooker in Game I, after potentially only one game before State of Origin.
Ponissi also revealed that barnstorming prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona is set to return this weekend from a concussion suffered earlier in the season, however, a decision has not yet been made on whether he’ll return via Queensland Cup or first grade.
“I’ll probably preference this and not play him purely because he’s underdone,” Ponissi revealed.
“He missed a bit of pre-season then he came back and then he’s out unavailable with concussion. When you’re out with HIAs, you’re following the protocol and you don’t do much, you rest for a period of time.
“Given he had to rest for a little bit of time, his fitness is a bit underdone so the best thing for Nelson would be to up and play Queensland Cup… and that’s probably still the aim but we also have to win a game of football, so we have to make a choice on what’s best for the team.
“Craig’s (Bellamy) going to make a decision whether he brings him off the bench and utilises him on Friday night and become a weapon for us or send him up to the Falcons and play a game up there which in his long run would be better.”
The Storm will also welcome back Nick Meaney back this week, however, will be without Jack Howarth, Tui Kamikamica, and Will Warbrick as they continue to recover from their respective injuries.
