Aaron Gorrell laughs Fonua Tonga is hard to gauge at the best of times - but something was clearly wrong when he had a bone sticking out of his skin.
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Tonga played a starring role as the Queanbeyan Kangaroos escaped with a thrilling 42-34 win over the Queanbeyan Blues in a heated cross-town derby at Freebody Oval on Saturday.
But it has come at a major cost with Kangaroos coach Gorrell fearing barnstorming winger Tonga's season is over after he suffered a compound fracture of the thumb when he dived over for a try midway through the second half, before being rushed to hospital.
Gorrell is now sweating on the fitness of Sekope Meke, who is nearing a return having spent almost two months on the sidelines with an injury of his own.
The Kangaroos have used 30 players in first grade this season and everyone has stepped up to the plate with aplomb and Gorrell is hoping Tonga's replacement can follow suit.
"It didn’t look too pretty, there’s a bit of bone hanging out of the skin," Gorrell said.
"Fingers crossed, or thumbs crossed, whatever you want to say. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looks but you’d think it would be his season.
"We weren’t going to rush [Meke] back but we’ll just have to assess this week and see where he’s at. I don’t want to rush someone and have them for one week and then lose them again. We’ll just have to be patient.
"We’ve had to cover for people all year, this is the most players I’ve used probably in all the years put together I’ve been here.
"Everyone we’ve used has stepped up and shown their first grade material, we’ve just got to keep calling on them and hopefully they keep coming up with the goods."
The second-placed Kangaroos have all but ended the Blues' finals hopes as they continue to launch a raid on the minor premiership, but it certainly didn't come easy.
The hosts raced out to a 22-0 lead inside 20 minutes and the Blues looked every bit of the side that has endured a nightmare seven-game winless run.
But Terry Campese inspired his side back to within four points on either side of his stint in the sin-bin for his part in a melee, and scores were eventually locked at 34-all heading into the final 10 minutes.
Suddenly the Kangaroos looked shot after they "took our foot off the pedal", but late tries to Nukurua Ngere and Ryan Tuckwell saw the home side sneak away with the victory.
"It’s always good to get one up on them, it would be nice in a grand final or something but we’ve just got to improve our own backyard and make sure we’re where we need to be and not really worry about anyone else," Gorrell said.
"I don’t think we’re anywhere near where we need to be or where we can be, but in saying that to find ways to get the two points when you’re not happy is pretty pleasing.
"We can’t get ahead of ourselves and think we’re going better than we are, we’ve got a lot of improvement in us and we just need to build the next three weeks and hopefully be at our best come semi-finals."
AT A GLANCE
Canberra Raiders Cup round 15 -
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 42 (F Tonga 2, T Henderson, B Crisp, B Cronan, J Hitchins, N Ngere, R Tuckwell tries; B Crisp 5 goals) bt QUEANBEYAN BLUES 34 (J Stuckey, J Williams, D Barrie, J Baker, Z Bijorac, T Stevens tries; T Campese 4, J Baker goals)
WODEN VALLEY RAMS 22 (C Hodge 2, D Spencer, A Vivili, L Withers tries; L Withers goals) bt GUNGAHLIN BULLS 6
TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 22 (J Martin 2, A Tupou 2, L Tuicakau tries; L Oakley goal) bt BELCONNEN UNITED SHARKS 16 (C McAskill 2, M Woolnough tries; M Woolnough 2 goals)
