Titans' injury crisis deepens again in NRL

Apr 23, 2017 - 12:53 AM Just as Gold Coast appeared to be recovering from their injury crisis the NRL club's casualty ward has ballooned again after Neil Henry's side picked up another four injuries in their shock 16-12 win over Cronulla.

Dale Copley (ribs), Chris McQueen (concussion), Karl Lawton (hamstring) and Chris Grevsmuhl (shoulder) all failed to finish the match and will be monitored in coming days.

A fifth Titan - playmaker Kane Elgey - was rested as he battles a hamstring injury.

Henry praised his side for not throwing in the towel against the defending premiers despite trailing for most of the match and seeing their teammates fall regularly.

"The boys have had some gutsy efforts this year, but to get back into a game and close out a game and hang on in a game, we haven't experienced (that)," Henry said.

"We've had three games where we've led games late and we've lost them all.

"(Saturday night) in particular, we had one interchange to go and all four were gone, so we couldn't even use interchange and Ryan Simpkins went back out there."

The injury concerns came on the same night key trio Jarryd Hayne, Kevin Proctor and Konrad Hurrell all came through unscathed in their returns from injury.

All three players carried the ball for over 100 metres, with Hayne's influence growing the longer the game wore on.

"They marked him fairly well and he had people on him when he was fielding the ball. But he had a couple of good charges into the line," Henry said of his star fullback.

"He hasn't got the metres in his legs to be at his best at the moment.

"But his talk at the back is good for the boys - that's what they said at halftime, he's directing a bit of traffic around. He's an experienced player; having him out there, the boys appreciate it.

"We've picked up some injuries again tonight but hopefully we can get a little bit of continuity with our main men back there."

Henry said Hayne's return was a factor in his decision to opt for the versatile Tyrone Roberts, who scored the opening try, in the halves ahead of a half-fit Elgey.

"Kane's not 100 per cent. He's got a tight hamstring anyway. Once Jarryd declared himself right, it made sense to have Tyrone there, he's played a bit of fullback so he can shuffle back there," he said.

"He had a week off, he'll be right next week, and then we have to make some decisions."

Source: AAP