The Canberra Raiders have taken a cautious approach with Bailey Simonsson, withdrawing him from the NRL All Stars due to a hamstring niggle.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's an approach they've traditionally taken towards exhibition games and it's proven to be justified following the massive injury toll from the NRL Nines on the weekend.
St George Illawarra have lost their captain Cameron McInnes (knee) for up to three months, while fullback Matt Dufty (cheekbone) is set to miss the start of the season.
Simonsson was picked to play for the Maori All Stars, who face their Indigenous counterparts on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
But he suffered a slight injury at training last week and has been replaced by South Sydney's Bryson Goodwin.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said they'd had a disrupted pre-season due to niggles to several players, including key recruit George Williams (quad).
"It was a precautionary thing. We've had too many disruptions to our pre-season with niggles and injuries and it's a precautionary thing with Bailey," Stuart said.
"I hope [he's right for Port Macquarie]."
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
Stuart said they'd also taken a cautious approach with Williams, but he should return to full training on Monday.
How he returns will determine what kind of role he'll play in the Raiders' pre-season trial against the Canterbury Bulldogs in Port Macquarie Saturday week.
"We've had quite a lot of them and it's really disrupted, not so much the conditioning side of it, but more so the ability to get our combinations and our football happening," Stuart said.
"It's a little frustrating at the moment, but you've got to keep working hard to get these blokes healthy.
"I'm hoping he's back to full training next Monday."
While the Dragons were hit hard by injuries at the Nines, the Raiders were unaffected after selecting a young squad, with barely any of their first-choice first-graders playing at all.
Sia Soliola and Elliott Whitehead travelled to Perth as part of the squad, but didn't play.
Most of the squad toured the bushfire hit NSW south coast instead, giving back to Canberra's surrounding communities instead.
Stuart's a fan of the Nines and loves the concept, but thinks it's played at the wrong time of the year.
As long as it remains as a pre-season tournament, Stuart will be treating it the same way.
It's a view he's expressed first-hand to the NRL.
He felt sorry for the injury toll Dragons coach Paul McGregor has suffered at the pre-season tournament.
"While the NRL schedule the Nines at the wrong time of the season, I won't be taking the Nines seriously because I'm more concerned about getting my preparation correct for the NRL season. Not the Nines," Stuart said.
"I'm a fan of the Nines. I like the football. I think it's a wonderful concept. We just schedule it poorly.
"Scheduled correctly it could be a great weekend on the rugby league calendar.
We've had too many disruptions to our pre-season with niggles.
- Ricky Stuart
"I've spoke to the NRL in regards to my opinion of when it can be scheduled and it was met with good conversation and happy that I raised the point."
While the Raiders have only one trial, their NSW Cup affiliate Mounties has one against Penrith this weekend that some of the Canberra players will take part in.
A couple of the Raiders' middle forwards will get a run to get some extra conditioning as round one approaches.
"Dunamis Lui and Emre Guler will be two of my middles who will be getting some time this weekend, just to add some loads to their work going into next week's trial and the season start," Stuart said.
NRL PRE-SEASON TRIAL
February 29: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs at Port Macquarie, 4.30pm.