Sydney Roosters star Joey Manu had three metal plates inserted in his face after his cheekbone was fractured in a sickening tackle by Latrell Mitchell.
The 25-year-old was operated on by surgeons for several hours at a private hospital in Brisbane on Saturday after the match against South Sydney.
Team medico Dr Tom Longworth compared the player’s devastating facial injuries to a car accident.
‘The surgeon mentioned it would have taken significant force to cause this amount of damage,’ he said. ‘It’s more something you’d see in a car accident than a football tackle.’
Manu was floored by Mitchell in a horror high tackle during the South Sydney 54-12 win over the Roosters on Friday.
NRL player Joey Manu has undergone surgery and received three metal plates after his cheekbone was fractured in a sickening tackle by South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell
The 25-year-old was operated on by surgeons for several hours at a private hospital in Brisbane on Saturday after the match against South Sydney
Team medico Dr Tom Longworth compared the 25-year-old player’s devastating facial injuries to a ‘car accident’ (pictured, Manu following the tackle on Friday)
The NRL’s match review committee slapped Mitchell with a grade-two reckless high tackle charge, meaning the South Sydney superstar will miss six matches if he pleads guilty and nine if he fails in an appeal.
Manu will need to remain in hospital for at least another 48 hours, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The Sydney Roosters star is expected to make a full recovery despite fears he could suffer permanent damage to his right eye.
‘You can damage the eye in a collision like this one from fractures to the orbital rim bone around his eye. If you get a bad enough fracture it can pierce the eye,’ Dr Longworth told the Telegraph.
Another complication can be the muscle that controls eye movement getting trapped by the trauma, causing double vision. Manu avoided this too.
‘The good thing is that his eye is ok,’ Dr Longworth said. ‘His season is over but he’ll be back next season. There is nothing to stop him playing again.’
The charge against Mitchell is effectively the fifth highest possible grade out of nine that can be handed down for high shots.
Downgrading the charge to a grade-one reckless high tackle would also not be enough to allow him back on the field this year, resulting in a five-game ban.
The NRL’s match review committee has slapped Mitchell with a grade-two reckless high tackle charge
Tempers soon reached boiling point following Latrell Mitchell’s hit on Joey Manu (pictured next to referee Ashley Klein)
It means he would have to get the charge downgraded two levels to a grade-three careless high tackle, which would get him a four-week ban.
Even then, he would only return in the grand final if Souths lost in the first week of the finals to Penrith but then went on to reach the decider.
Adding further issues for Mitchell is if he does head to the judiciary to downgrade or fight it altogether and is unsuccessful, the ban will extend to nine games and well into 2022.
Mitchell’s plight is not helped by the fact he has four priors, three of which came in the one game this year against Wests Tigers as well as a striking charge against the same opponent in 2020.
It comes after the Rabbitohs led calls for judiciary reform earlier this year, arguing loading on charges should be capped at 25 per cent.
Mitchell’s loading in this instance is 80 per cent.
Mitchell (pictured, with wife Brielle) can accept the charge and cop a six-game ban, ending his season and meaning he will have a delayed start to 2022
Downgrading the charge to a grade-one reckless high tackle would also not be enough to allow him back on the field this year, resulting in a five-game ban
Regardless, it represents a huge blow to the Rabbitohs’ title hopes in what was effectively a meaningless game for the club.
The 24-year-old went to another level at fullback this season, offering hope Souths could challenge title fancies Melbourne and Penrith after he missed last year’s finals series with a hamstring injury.
‘We’ll have to wait and see,’ coach Wayne Bennett said when asked if they could win the title without Mitchell.
‘He’s a huge player for us, but we didn’t have him last year in the playoffs and I think we’re a better team than we were last year and pretty good at getting other players to play well for us in key positions.
‘We’ve won a lot of games this year with a lot of players missing.’
Meanwhile the charge will also raise questions as to why Mitchell was not sent off, with Roosters coach Trent Robinson already furious the fullback was only sin-binned.