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RUGBY LEAGUE
NSW hooker Robbie Farah has thrown a scare into the Blues camp ahead of the Origin decider after leaving Leichhardt Oval without a shower at the end of Wests Tigers' match against Penrith to undergo X-rays for a suspected broken hand.
Farah, who has been batting a painful shoulder injury sustained in Origin I, came from the field in the 76th minute and left the ground.
Even if he is cleared of a break, there are doubts about whether Farah will be able to train with the Blues in the lead up to the July 8 clash at Suncorp Stadium and Cronulla's Michael Ennis is expected to be placed on standby.
A final decision is likely to be made by the NSW team doctor after the Blues players assemble in camp on Monday night ahead of the announcement of the side for Origin III.
Tigers coach Jason Taylor revealed that Farah had tried to play on with the injury but could not.
"He has gone for an X-ray already so it looks like he has got some sort of fracture in his hand, which he did early in the second half," Taylor said.
"He came off when he got to the point he just couldn't go any further but he said he was pretty much a passenger for most of the second half."
Asked if he expected Farah to be ruled out of Origin, Taylor said: "I am not sure. I imagine it will depend on where that fracture is. He is obviously very keen to know the outcome so he didn't have a shower, he just left straight away."
NSW prop and Tigers teammate Aaron Woods said Farah was proven to be tough and was hopeful he would be able to play for the Blues in Origin III.
"Robbie wanted to play for the Tigers last week but there were precautionary reasons he couldn't back up two days after Origin," Woods said.
"Knowing Robbie, he will do everything he can to get back on the field but he has to wait and see what the scans show up and see what he has to do further after then."
Since claiming the No 9 NSW jersey from Ennis, Farah has become one of NSW's most vital players.
He captained the Blues in Origin I after Paul Gallen was ruled out with a hip injury and has played 13 Origins for NSW.
The loss of Farah would also be a blow for the Tigers, who are now equal bottom with Manly and Newcastle after losing 35-12 to Penrith.
Taylor admitted he was frustrated by his side's second-half performance, in which they conceded 25 unanswered points to blow a 12-10 half-time lead.
"We are getting into the back half of the year and it is tough, the NRL is a tough competition and I have said before that we need to work hard at toughening up and we weren't tough enough tonight," Taylor said.
Meanwhile, Michael Jennings delivered an outstanding display in his return from a one-game club-imposed ban to spearhead the Sydney Roosters’ 20-10 NRL win over Gold Coast on Sunday.
The Roosters were lucky to escape with the two points after an error-riddled second half but still did enough to jump into the top four in front of 12,569 fans at Central Coast Stadium.
Jennings scored a try before turning provider for James Maloney’s four-pointer in a crucial 11-minute period before half-time – the points the Roosters scored during that period would prove the difference.
Coach Trent Robinson did not hide his disappointment with his side’s execution – the Roosters completing just 26 of their 43 sets and making 18 handling errors.
‘‘It [their error count] was really poor in the second half especially,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘We didn’t execute well at the start of the game, especially down their end.
‘‘I think we carried over from last week. Then it probably got worse in the second half. There were some very different performances from us today.
‘‘Defence held us in there.’’
After Anthony Don intercepted a Maloney bat-on and raced 90 metres to score, the Titans were well in the game, down 6-4 after 15 minutes.
Then Jennings, who missed the team’s last start after being arrested during a run-in with police in Parramatta, made his mark.
First he bustled through three retreating defenders to score and push his team’s lead out to eight.
Then on the stroke of half-time Maloney broke the line and threw it to Jennings, who turned it back inside for the Roosters five-eighth to score.
The Titans had their chances in the second half but were just as disjointed as the Roosters. They suffered a blow when Ryan James was ruled out with a shoulder injury, causing a reshuffle of the side including moving James Roberts to five-eighth.
Jennings’ performance was one of the few high points for the Roosters, along with prop Dylan Napa who put his hand up for a Queensland State of Origin jumper, running for 148m, including a memorable line break.