RUGBY LEAGUE
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St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor is confident Josh Dugan's troublesome left ankle is a problem the fullback can manage throughout the NRL season.
Dugan was comfortably the best player on the field at Wollongong's WIN Stadium on Saturday night in the dour 12-4 success over Manly.
The victory moved the Dragons to 2-2 for the season after a slow start to the campaign that saw the joint venture struggle in their defeats by Melbourne and Wests Tigers.
McGregor's side have struggled in attack all season but NSW star Dugan was their biggest threat going forward, setting up his side's only try scored by Jason Nightingale.
But he gave his team a scare when he went down in the second half after aggravating the left ankle he injured in the Charity Shield against South Sydney in February before limping his way through the closing stages of the game.
"He did hurt his ankle again tonight but he is managing through it at the moment and he will continue to do that because he puts the team first and that is important," McGregor said.
"He is a big-name player and you need them out there every week to be successful as a team and he has put himself on the field, so he has got to perform.
"He came back early from an injury, so when you come back early you have got to look after blokes the first couple of weeks when they do play and he is there now with some ice but he is fine to play."
Manly coach Geoff Toovey faces an anxious week as the Sea Eagles sweat on several injuries picked up in Saturday's loss.
A disappointing night at WIN Stadium was compounded by injuries that forced Jamie Lyon (groin), Feleti Mateo (ankle) and Josh Starling (knee) all to limp off in the second half.
With senior prop Brenton Lawrence already out indefinitely with a back problem along with exciting centre Clint Gutherson (knee) and Jorge Taufua's off-field indiscretions casting doubts on his future, more injuries are the last thing Toovey needs ahead of this week's clash with Canberra in Albury.
"We're not too sure yet, but it looks like Feleti will be a couple of weeks, Josh Starling has done his knee again and will also be a few weeks," Toovey said.
"The skipper [Lyon] will be assessed in the next few days. The only positive for us was that Kieran Foran came through OK from his hamstring injury." - AAP