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Written by NRL Physio
The Melbourne Storm will once again be the most relevant teams heading into the NRL SuperCoach season, with a host of serious options to consider.
However, many of their key contingent are coming off injury concerns of varying degrees from the prior year.
NRL Physio profiles each key player, including their current injury status, history and 2022 expectations.
For profiles on every club, jump across to his Patreon for invaluable insights to aid your SuperCoach decision making. Check it out here: patreon.com/nrlphysio
Embed from Getty Images| Player | Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – left hamstring strain, concussion, sternum injury 2020 – calf strain, hamstring strain |
| 2022 expectations | Multiple hamstring strains in the past 2 seasons + underdone preseason raises some concern for injury risk. Wouldn’t be going too hard for a guy who only came back to the club at the start of Feb |
| Player | Jesse Bromwich |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – elbow cleanout surgery 2020 – partial MCL tear 2019 – sternum injury |
| 2022 expectations | Elbow surgery is a quick turnaround, no increased concerns for 2022 |
| Player | Kenny Bromwich |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – rib cartilage injury, hamstring strain 2020 – calf tear |
| 2022 expectations | Similar to NAS a few lower limb muscle strains could be a tiebreaker if you were tossing up KBrom or another player, but otherwise not much to consider here. |
| Player | Xavier Coates |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – elbow hyperextension, minor hamstring strain, minor nerve traction injury 2020 – groin strain, cork, minor hamstring strain |
| 2022 expectations | A few minor hamstring issues are something to look out for more with Coates compared to the 2 forwards above. Obviously his role involves repeated high speed efforts + explosive acceleration so hamstrings are put under more stress. Still the issues were only minor so only a not a significant consideration, once again mostly consider it a tiebreaker vs another player. |
| Player | Tom Eisenhuth |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – right elbow dislocation(no surgery), concussion, rib cartilage damage 2020 – calf strain 2019 – fractured larynx |
| 2022 expectations | Mostly traumatic contact injuries, not much to cause increased concern moving forward. |
| Player | Harry Grant |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – grade 1 hamstring strain (recurrence), major hamstring strain (referred to as “tear”), high grade left MCL 2020 – meniscus (minor surgery), wrist |
| 2022 expectations | Hamstring the obvious concern here. Was managed unexpectedly last season with an early return from the initial strain. Unfortunately suffered a re-injury but took time with rehab & went the rest of the season injury free. Well past the initial increased risk period (first 4 months post return) and will have had offseason to hone performance and hopefully “bulletproof” his hammys. Minimal injury risk consideration at this stage (similar to Tom Turbo at 1-2% increased risk) but if a hammy issue pops up during the season would be a rush to sell for me. |
| Player | Jahrome Hughes |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – concussion, minor right calf “issue”, right calf cork, minor calf strain 2020 – minor groin, broken hand (surgery) 2019 – minor right knee medial sprain, back spasms, back injury (no specifics), concussion |
| 2022 expectations | A few calf issues last season, and it was tough getting to the bottom of strain vs cork for a lot of them. This is valuable information as a cork is insignificant when charting future injury risk, whereas multiple strains can pose issues. At this stage not someone I’m discounting, if we consider the calf issues corks that he played through he could even improve his performance in 2022. |
| Player | George Jennings |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – left PCL + reaggravation, low grade hamstring, concussion 2019 – knee injury (no extra details) |
| 2022 expectations | Came back early from his PCL injury & it showed, performance was down & suffered an aggravation. Will be something he has to manage moving forward but would expect performance trending more towards pre-injury levels |
| Player | Tui Kamikamica |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – significant left calf strain 2020 – left ankle, bulging disc (surgery), hamstring strain 2019 – left knee injury |
| 2022 expectations | Another forward with a few lower limb muscle strains in the past few seasons. Slightly increased concern here with past lower back surgery, can contribute & increase risk of calf/hammy issues moving forward. Have a small discount on his price for 2022 considering this |
| Player | Felise Kaufusi |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2020 – minor knee swelling 2019 – concussion, rib injury |
| 2022 expectations | Knee swelling possibly due to ongoing cartilage issue he is managing, but no concrete reports on that. Otherwise no significant injury considerations |
| Player | Nick Meaney |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – concussion, rib fracture 2020 – hamstring strain 2019 – severe finger laceration |
| 2022 expectations | A few traumatic contact injuries last season, but no pattern there. |
| Player | Cameron Munster |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – knee laceration + infection, Lisfranc injury 2020 – concussion, minor right MCL re-injury, right MCL re-injury, right MCL 2019 – neural neck issue |
| 2022 expectations | Played through Lisfranc injury in 2021 and recurring MCL injury in 2020. Lisfranc injuries notorious for lingering symptoms and limiting performance, so evidence is there that if Munster can stay injury free he could be in for an uptick in performance/output. No real pattern to his injuries either that would suggest an increased risk moving forward |
| Player | Justin Olam |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2020 – minor ankle sprain 2019 – hamstring injury |
| 2022 expectations |
| Player | Ryan Papenhuyzen |
| Current status | Building back to full training after ankle sprain |
| Injury history | 2022 – minor lateral ankle sprain 2021 – concussion + neck issues (prolonged symptoms), grade 2 AC joint, neck injury 2020 – left calf strain, achilles 2019 – concussion (prolonged symptoms) + chin laceration, midfoot sprain |
| 2022 expectations | Minor ankle sprain in mid January but of no implication for Round 1. Concussion the only real concern here. The risk for persistent concussion symptoms is approximately 10% in a player who is suffering a first time concussion, or who has not experienced persistent symptoms from a past concussion. But in someone with Papenhuyzen’s concussion history the evidence points to a 30% risk of suffering persistent symptoms, and therefore requiring a prolonged recovery, if he suffers another concussion. There were 4.5 concussions per Round in the NRL last season, so globally Papenhuyzen’s risk of concussion should be considered low. But we have seen players with multi-concussion histories have a lower “threshold” for future issues (ie doesn’t take as traumatic a blow to cause a concussion). The tough part about assessing player health in regards to concussion is each case is so unique, so it is difficult to point to other similar cases and think this will be how Papenhuyzen will respond to future head knocks. Overall I do approach Papenhuyzen with some caution considering the unpredictability of concussions, but it won’t be enough to stop me from buying him in classic or drafting him in the first 5 picks in draft considering his upside. Another case of a player in classic who I would rather start with and only have to burn 1 trade if he has concussion issues, rather than bringing him in after a few weeks and then needing to use a 2nd trade to get him out. |
| Player | Brandon Smith |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – concussion, shoulder injury, concussion + facial swelling, calf cork 2020 – jaw fracture (surgery), facial fracture (no surgery) 2019 – ankle sprain, calf strain, cellulitis |
| 2022 expectations | One guy I argue has a slightly increased injury risk due to his playing style. I’m not sure he has any self preservation! Flies into collisions at 100 miles an hour, and this can result in some nasty contact injuries (concussions/facial fractures). Not a massive negative against him health wise, as contact injuries are largely luck related. But if Smith keeps up his explosive playing style (which is so much of what makes him a great player) this season I wouldn’t be surprised to see him miss a few weeks with a contact injury or two. |
| Player | Reimis Smith |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – minor left ankle sprain |
| 2022 expectations |
| Player | Christian Welch |
| Current status | Healthy |
| Injury history | 2021 – concussion, knee swelling, concussion 2020 – concussion 2019 – right ACL, left meniscus |
| 2022 expectations | Almost a carbon copy for the Papenhuyzen analysis, with concussion the main concern & the unpredictability around this making it tough to predict his injury risk in 2022. The difference here is that Welch (as far as we know) has not dealt with persistent symptoms and it is more the sheer number (3 in the past 2 seasons) that brings concern moving forward. The evidence suggests he is at 2-3X more risk to suffer a future concussion, with his threshold for a concussive blow possibly being lowered (lesser blow could still cause a concussion). Once again I am baking some injury risk into his 2022 outlook, but considering the absence of persistent symptoms thus far I wouldn’t slide him down your ranks much. |
For profiles on every club, jump across to NRL Physio’s Patreon for invaluable insights to aid your SuperCoach decision making. Check it out here: patreon.com/nrlphysio
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