Kennedy Cherrington will miss at least the first three weeks of the NRLW season with the knee injury she suffered in the third State of Origin match.
She could be joined on the sidelines by Parramatta captain Mahalia Murphy, who is racing to recover from a minor hamstring injury in time for the season opener against Cronulla.
Parramatta had initially hoped NSW forward Cherrington may recover from her posterior cruciate ligament injury in time for the opener on July 3.
But she is now tracking to miss up to a third of the regular season with the injury that prevented her from playing the second half of NSW’s game-three loss in Newcastle last month.
“It’s tough for Kennedy but it’ll be good to get her for the back half of the season,” said coach Steve Georgallis.
“We’re hoping she’ll be back for round four or round five at the latest.”
Eels captain for a second straight season, Murphy is hoping to return from a hamstring injury in time to face the Sharks.
“Mahalia’s just got a little niggle,” Georgallis said.
“We’re hoping she should be back for round one but if we feel like she’s not ready then we’re not going to push her.”
The news is less rosy for Eels forward Boss Kapua, who fractured her fibula in an opposed session and will miss the opening weeks of the competition.
“She’s tough, she walked off the field and she just said, ‘I’m a bit sore here’,” Georgallis said.
“We were glad it wasn’t syndesmosis because syndesmosis can be like 12 (weeks), three months. She’ll be three or four weeks. She might even be back before Kennedy.”
Murphy said she was relishing the chance to start the season against Cronulla, whose narrow win over Parramatta ended up being the difference in the sides’ finals fates last year.
The Eels lost the round-two match-up by two points, their closest loss of the campaign, then found themselves beaten to the final top-four spot by the Sharks.
“It’s personal,” Murphy said.
“I know the girls can definitely beat them. We should’ve beaten them last year. We’re focusing on round one.”
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