Marshall-King may miss remainder of 12 months: Bennett

Wayne Bennett says the Dolphins could possibly be with out hooker Jeremy Marshall-King for the remainder of the season after he battled by means of a shoulder damage within the 24-16 loss to Brisbane.

The 27-year-old has been one of many Dolphins finest gamers this 12 months and an prolonged absence could be a merciless blow to the aspect’s finals probabilities.

They’ve now misplaced 4 video games in a row and will likely be 4 factors exterior the highest eight on the finish of spherical 18.

Marshall-King darted over to provide the Dolphins a 16-14 lead within the 63rd minute on Saturday night time and performed the total 80 minutes on the Gabba.

Coach Bennett shocked the post-match press convention when he hinted on the seriousness of the damage.

Marshall-King injured an AC joint within the 26-12 win over St George Illawarra in spherical 13. He missed per week earlier than taking part in half of the 58-18 loss to Manly in spherical 15.

His show in opposition to the Broncos was top notch however he performed underneath duress.

“He did (play effectively) however he is nonetheless acquired a little bit of a shoulder downside so I do not know the way lengthy we’ll have him again for,” Bennett mentioned.

“Seems to be prefer it may be a bit ongoing that one.

“He is a beautiful participant and we most likely had him at about 75 per cent tonight and we could need to go the remainder of the season with out him, I am unsure.”

Bennett was requested how severe the damage was.

“It is the identical (shoulder). He is harm it once more,” Bennett mentioned.

“These items are about ache and what you’ll be able to and what you’ll be able to’t deal with, so we simply have to attend and see.”

Bennett switched star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to centre in opposition to the Broncos and performed utility Kodi Nikorima at fullback.

It met with a measure of success with Nikorima scoring a try to working for 152m. Tabuai-Fidow was restricted to simply 9 runs and 73m. He was strong however the Dolphins missed the upper stage of involvement he gives at No.1.

“Hamiso is among the finest fullbacks within the recreation however we now have an issue with our centres in the mean time and we needed to do one thing about it,” Bennett mentioned.

“He can deal with that place and did a very good job there. Kodi may be very competent at fullback and I do not assume he allow us to down.

“He dropped one ball however that’s par for the course once they play that place. It was our greatest possibility on the night time and I feel we did a fairly honest job.”

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