Parramatta’s first bye of the season has come at the perfect time with the club’s heaving casualty ward expanding on Friday night with new recruit Joe Ofahengaue expected to miss several weeks with a calf injury.
Just days after he made the switch from the Wests Tigers, Ofahengaue limped off 10 minutes into Friday’s game against the Cowboys which the Eels won 24-16 thanks to a late Mitch Moses try.
The Eels headed into that game missing every forward who played in last year’s grand final due to injury, State of Origin duty or guys moving to different clubs.
They were without star props Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard, reliable edge options Shaun Lane and Ryan Matterson are both injured, while mid-season recruit Andrew Davey was out with a concussion.
The Ofahengaue injury is yet another setback, but Eels coach Brad Arthur says there could be some good news on the horizon.
“I think he had a calf issue in the pre-season. He’ll get scans, but we’ve got a fortnight off now so he’ll get some good rest,” he said.
“Hopefully we get Reggie back next game and Junior after Origin. Andrew Davey (could be back), Shaun Lane is a couple of weeks away and Waqa (Blake) is probably a week or two after that.
“We probably had seven or eight handy players out tonight.”
Despite all the injuries, Parramatta held on to move within two points of the top eight thanks to some of their unheralded forwards who were forced to step up.
Wiremu Greig was immense in the middle, running for 150 metres on a night he crashed over for the first try of his career, while Matt Doorey played 80 minutes on the left edge for the first time this year.
