NRL 2024, Injuries, suspension, return dates, casualty ward and key information for the 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership season

NRL Casualty Ward: Turbo fit and ready for Vegas

Author: NRL.com
Timestamp: Sat 16 Dec 2023, 07:25 AM

Manly star Tom Trbojevic has declared himself fully fit and ready for Round 1 in Las Vegas.

The 27-year-old played just 11 games last season after a torn pectoral in Origin II ended another NRL campaign prematurely.

"A pec is about a three-month injury so I've had plenty of time for that to recover and I'm in a really good mental space now and training really hard," Trbojevic told media on Friday.

"Coming into pre-season I was basically ready to go so it's been a really good five or six weeks.

"I'm fully fit. Contact and everything has all been cleared so I'm good to go."

The 2021 Dally M Medal winner said "it's hard not to be" excited at training as he joins teammates in preparations to meet the Rabbitohs in Las Vegas and kick off the 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership.

"Vegas is a crazy part of the world and the opportunity to play footy there doesn't come very often so I'm looking forward to getting over there and hopefully showing Americans what we can do," he said.

Round 1 - Round 1 - Sunday 3 Mar

Full Time

Sea Eagles

Rabbitohs

Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

Highlights Latest

Eels forward Ryan Matterson will sit out the next month of training after suffering a quad strain.

The club said on November 7 that the 29-year-old is expected to resume full training after the Christmas break.

Meanwhile Titans forward David Fifita will undergo surgery after suffering a pectoral muscle injury.

The Titans confirmed in a statement that the 23-year-old back-rower sustained a partial tear during pre-season training.

The Maroons representative will aim to return for the start of the 2024 season after completing his rehab over the coming weeks.

Bulldogs recruit Connor Tracey suffered a leg injury in his final training session with the Sharks and will be unable to train with his new team-mates for six weeks.

Canterbury GM of football Phil Gould revealed on social media that Tracey would not start running until mid-January after suffering the injury before his switch of clubs was finalised.

"Unfortunately Connor injured himself at Sharks training on Monday [November 27]. Not ideal. But we will get him 100% right and he should be ready to trial in February," Gould said. "He can play anywhere in the backline."

Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan is sidelined from pre-season training by a broken thumb as well as an ankle injury.

Sloan suffered a syndesmosis injury playing in the Koori Knockout in October and later broke his thumb, ruling out of training until mid-December.

“We've had a major, major hiccup with him suffering a syndesmosis [injury] in the [Koori] Knockout, which is unfortunate, and then he broke his thumb so everything I had planned for him in early December went out the window, but we'll get there," Flanagan told NRL.com in a wide-ranging interview about his plans for the Dragons.

Teenage Bulldogs playmaker Karl Oloapu is yet to decide whether to undergo surgery for a neck injury that has placed his immediate playing future in doubt.

Oloapu made his NRL debut for Canterbury last season but there is uncertainty about when the 18-year-old will play his next game after being told he requires surgery for a bulging disc.

English international Kai Pearce-Paul is set for surgery on a toe injury he has been managing for more than 12 months before moving to Newcastle.

Knights officials confirmed that after reviews by their medical and performance team it was decided that surgery was the best course of action for the 22-year-old forward.

Pearce-Paul, who has joined the Knights from Wigan, was due to commence official training and club commitments on November 23 with an eye to being available for selection in the early rounds of the 2024 season.

At Manly, experienced prop Matt Lodge is progressing well in his recovery from a knee injury suffered in Round 23 against the Roosters.

"Matt has been working really diligently reconditioning his knee in preparing to come back," said Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold.

“We are looking forward to seeing him back on the field somewhere between rounds four and eight."

Eels prop Wiremu Greig has been restricted to light training as a load management measure, following a stress reaction in the foot he injured last season.

Greig will aim to resume full training in the New Year alongside skipper Clint Gutherson (knee), Junior Paulo (toe), Daejarn Asi (finger) and Makahesi Makatoa (pectoral).

Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen is heading back to the USA in December to work with reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles as he continues his rehabilitation from an ankle injury.

Papenhuyzen spent time with Knowles in Philadelphia last January as he worked his way back from a fractured kneecap suffered late in the 2022 season against Canberra.

To view the complete NRL Casualty Ward, please visit the hub page.