Sharks medical staff are hopeful Trent Barrett has not suffered the same fate as prop Ben Ross after the star five-eighth injured his neck in a tackle during yesterday's loss to St George Illawarra.
Barrett's head made heavy contact with the shoulder of team-mate Blake Ferguson in the 50th minute of the NRL clash at WIN Jubilee Oval while attempting to tackle Dragons second-rower Ben Creagh.
The game was stopped as the Cronulla club doctor and trainers assessed Barrett's condition while he complained of pins and needles in his arm and leg.
Full coverage of the St George Illawarra Dragons After several minutes on his back, Barrett was stretchered off the ground and later transported to hospital where he remained overnight.
It capped a difficult afternoon for the former Dragons captain, who returned to Kogarah for the first time since playing for the home side in 2006.
Just a fortnight ago, Ross suffered a terrible neck injury in the Sharks win over Penrith. It was later revealed he suffered a disc injury which has put him out for the season.
Sharks coach Ricky Stuart expressed his concern at Barrett's injury.
"We're very disappointed about Trent," he said. "We've got our fingers crossed about his health, because he is such an integral part of our footy team.
"It was a big loss at an important stage of the game."
Barrett was booed by the fiercely pro-Dragons crowd of 20,847 when the team ran out onto the ground and every time he touched the ball yesterday. But he received a respectful round of applause as he was taken from the field and was transported by ambulance to hospital.
"We're hoping that it's only a nerve that has been squashed, (that) got pushed back and the disc has not been pushed back in regard to what happened to Benny (Ross)," Stuart said.
"But he still lacks sensation down the right side of his arm and a little bit of his leg. We're hoping that it's what they call a burner and we hope it's not as serious an issue."
Barrett's injury came after his former team-mate Matt Cooper limped from the field in the first half with a hamstring injury.
Cooper will have scans on his leg today to confirm the extent of the injury, but early indications are he could be out for up to a month.
Creagh, who also played with Barrett during the five-eighth's eight seasons at the Dragons, said he noticed nothing out of the ordinary in the tackle until Barrett did not get up.
"I didn't know what happened," he said.
"Usually when you get a neck injury it is when you are getting tackled, but I didn't know what happened there."
[PI9017] Barrett was last night cleared of any serious neck injury after undergoing tests in hospital. He could be back in action in one to two weeks.
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