Payne Haas sent another shiver of fear through the NSW State of Origin camp after being helped from the field during the second half of the Broncos' thrilling 13-12 win over Manly on the first night of Magic Round.
Haas could not put any weight on his left leg due to a toe injury and was escorted from the field by two trainers with 20 minutes left in the Brisbane Broncos' clash with the Sea Eagles at Lang Park.
However, the New South Wales prop returned to the field less than 15 minutes later as the injury-ravaged Broncos earned a stunning victory thanks to a field goal from halfback Jock Madden, playing in place of injured captain Adam Reynolds.
"He's fine," Brisbane coach Kevin Walters said after the match.
"He got a knee to the calf which triggered a nerve problem in his toe.
"He'll be good for next week, which is gold for us."
The Broncos, also without fullback Reece Walsh and hooker Billy Walters, led 12-0 inside 12 minutes through Brendan Piakura and Deine Mariner tries, before Manly hit back in the second period through Reuben Garrick and Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega.
Earlier, the Raiders beat Canterbury 24-20 in a scintillating Magic Round opener, having spent period either side of half-time with just 11 players on the field.
Jordan Rapana was dismissed for a professional foul, before prop Josh Papali'i was sent for a 10-minute break by referee Ashley Klein for a hip-drop tackle.
The Raiders prop landed on teammate Kaeo Weekes, who in turn landed on Bulldogs back rower Viliame Kikau's lower leg and forced him off the field.
"Just because someone gets hurt in our game doesn't mean something illegal happened. What is going on?" former Kangaroo Ryan Hoffman said in commentary for ABC Sport.
"What is going on in this game? … We've lost track of what the actual sin-bin is for."
Kikau was able to return moments before Papali'i's sin bin period was over.
Canberra had led 12-0 thanks to opportunistic tries to Xavier Savage and Sebastian Kris, who both benefited from Bulldogs errors to cross.
Then, the Bulldogs hit back through Jacob Preston thanks to a defensive mishap from the Raiders.
Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton scored against the undermanned Raiders before the break, with Jacob Kiraz adding another score just after half-time.
However, a Hudson Young double gave the Raiders the lead they would never relinquish to leave the Bulldogs winless at Magic Round since its inception in 2019.
Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
Thanks for being with us on day one of Magic Round, which has lived up to the billing with two very entertaining matches.
There will be plenty of talk about the pitch and how it is going to play over the next two days and six matches, with it looking very bare in parts already.
But that's Jon Healy's problem.
Good night everyone and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
LoadingMeanwhile, Manly coach Anthony Siebold said it was telling that his side continued to fight after going behind so early.
"I was really proud of the guys," he says.
"There was a really hard edge to the way they played the game.
"I was really proud, ultimately we didn't get the win, but we haven't lost a game by more than two scores all year."
He says the sin binning was "a really tough call" as it wasn't a try scoring situation - as well as taking umbridge with the penalty the Broncos got at the end of the match to set up the field goal attempt.
"He's fine," Kevin Walters says.
"He got a knee to the calf which triggered a nerve problem in his toe.
"He'll be good for next week.
As for some of the off the field issues, with Haas' father reportedly being arrested overseas, Walters said he has the clb's full support.
"We're supporting Payne in every way that we can. He's an incredibly strong individual.
"He's a tremendous guy, a tremendous family person.
"We will get around him in every way that we can to support him.
"That's all we can do.
"What he's doing for his family even before his incident, is something we need to be aware of."
"It's a totally different role to centre," he says.
"He did some really good work at the back."
Walters was also effusive over Jock Madden's display at halfback.
"We've got a lot of confidence in Jock," Walters says.
"His game is going to get better over the next 10, 12 weeks.
"He's only going to get better for us."
Here's Brisbane coach Kevin Walters.
"Give Manly some credit, they really stayed with it for 80 minutes," he says.
"It seemed a bit weird.
"The referee let the game flow, which fatigued both games. It was a really good contest.
"A good tight game is good for the mind, good for the soul."
We're in the bowels of Lang Park waiting to hear from the two coaches.
We'll bring you their comments imminently.
Thanks Simon, the Magic Round is living up to the hype with two nail biting games to kick things off.
- Mike
And a great chance for him to celebrate with his family afterwards.
A late field goal from Jock Madden has given Brisbane a nervy 13-12 victory over Manly-Warringah at Lang Park.
The Broncos, backed by the majority of the 50,971-strong crowd, led 12-0 inside 12 minutes through tries to Brendan Piakura and Deine Mariner.
The Sea Eagles had as much as 65 per cent of territory in the first half, and made that pressure count in the second period, levelling through tries to Reuben Garrick and Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega with 10 minutes remaining.
However, Jock Madden came up with a field goal with five minutes remaining to claim a backs-against-the-wall victory to move into the top four.
Not long enough from DCE!
It was always going to be a long shot, but he wasn't able to get enough on it.
OK, Manly has a scrum 20 metres out from their own line as Selwyn Cobbo knocks on.
Oh that's not ideal for the Sea Eagles!
There was a knock on after a very good short restart and that's handed possession back to Brisbane 40 metres from their own line.
A field goal from Jock Madden!
He was deep in the pocket, but Manly didn't see him so he had too much time and he's nailed the shot!
Brisbane leads 13-12!
It's a high shot from Jaxson Paulo on Kotoni Staggs.
It's 45 metres out so they won't go for goal, but they have field position.
He looked like there was no way he could even put weight onto his foot.
Now he's back out there!
Remarkable.
It was a big toe injury, we're told.
Lovely hands from Tolutau Koula frees Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega on the sideline to score Manly's second try!
Brisbane is looking tired now on that right side, the inexperience of debutant Josiah Karapani starting to tell perhaps.
Reuben Garrick from the sideline ... KICK IT!
WE'RE ALL SQUARE WITH EIGHT-AND-A-HALF TO PLAY!
Manly breaks down the right, but can't get past the despairing Brisbane defence!
Jaxson
Paulo
then fumbles the ball over the line under pressure from Staggs!
Reuben
Garrick has raced free down the right side!
It's a brilliant line break - he has one player to beat, his skipper giving support on the inside...
And he kicks it ahead and into touch.
Of all the options, that was arguably the worst - a bad miss for Gerrick and Manly.
That's not what the Sea Eagles needed - Luke Brooks saw some space and put a kick in deep towards the far touchline - but he's just hit it a touch too wide and it's out on the full, giving the Broncos great field position.
Oh no.
His left foot is causing him absolutely all sorts of pain.
He couldn't put any pressure on it as he is helped off the field.
Ethan Bullemor looks like he landed on the back of his knee with his knee in a tackle, but appeared to be quite innocuous on first viewing...
That's terrible news for both the Broncos and the Blues...
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