Xavier Coates appears highly unlikely to be available for Queensland in State of Origin 3 after the Melbourne Storm winger suffered a devastating hamstring injury against Canberra on Saturday night. Coates left the field in immense pain after chasing through on a kick and pulling up lame.
The Storm and Maroons winger needed assistance walking up the tunnel after re-injuring his hamstring – an issue that kept him out of action earlier this year. Coates had a look of devastation on his face as he made his way off the field and appears highly unlikely to be fit for Origin 3 in Brisbane on July 17.
NRL fans are questioning why Xavier Coates played for the Melbourne Storm but Reece Walsh didn’t play for the Brisbane Broncos. Image: Getty
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said Coates would undergo scans, but admitted it didn’t look good for the 23-year-old. “Obviously it’s not great, you know, he’s had a few issues,” Bellamy said.
“Until he actually gets a scan, we won’t know the exact extent of the injury but I don’t think it’s too good. I wouldn’t think that he’d be available (for Origin) but I don’t think the medical staff are going to sort of make that prediction until they see a scan either.”
‘NRL Physio’ Brien Seeney said Coates could be looking at up to eight weeks on the sidelines due to his history of hamstring injuries and the fact it happened at such high speed. “Considering top end sprint mechanism, recent history and functional limitation – moderate to high grade strain looking likely (4-8 weeks recovery),” Seeney wrote on social media.
If Coates isn’t available for State of Origin 3, Queensland coach Billy Slater will likely turn to Selwyn Cobbo to fill the void in his backline. Cobbo was picked on the bench for Game 1 but was overlooked for the second game because of some niggling injuries and the need for a mental break.
Coates’ injury led some fans to question why he played against the Raiders at all given it came just three days after Origin 2 in Melbourne – and the Storm’s position on the NRL ladder. Bellamy opted to rest captain Harry Grant after Origin 2, but decided that Coates was ok to play. With the Storm coming first on the ladder, some questioned why Coates needed to play.
Extremely BAD decision by Storm coaching staff to let Xavier play – he should have been rested after Origin like Harry. Sometime you just have to use some common sense but NOT in this case. Due this POOR decision, an extremely good Athelete will missin next few weeks & Origin 3.
— alexretiman (@alexretiman999) June 29, 2024
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