Cronulla star Todd Carney concedes he needs a miracle to play against Manly on Friday night, even turning to Sea Eagles rival Brett Stewart for some divine intervention.
One of the NRL’s great rivalries has temporarily been put to one side in recent days, with Carney consulting Stewart on recovery methods from hamstring injuries.
Carney twinged his hamstring late in Saturday night’s epic elimination final win over North Queensland, in what was his comeback from two weeks out with the same injury.
Stewart – who has had a history of hamstring issues – is also in a race against the clock to play at Allianz Stadium on Friday night with a similar injury.
“I spoke to Snake (Stewart) yesterday. He’s obviously had a fair bit of trouble with his hamstrings before,” Carney told Fox Sports on Monday.
“I rang him last week to see what he sort of does with his and I rang him yesterday.
“He didn’t give much away, obviously. It was more just to see how he was going.”
Carney didn’t do much to raise hope amongst Sharks fans wanting him on the paddock against the Sea Eagles, admitting the injury felt much like it did when he initially strained the muscle three weeks ago.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan indicated he would give Carney until the last minute to prove his fitness, with back-rowers Luke Lewis and Wade Graham along with back-up half Chad Townsend looming as possible replacements.
“I spoke to Flano yesterday and he just said `do all you can’,” Carney said.
“But for me I don’t want to take the gloss off or take it all away from the boys with everyone worrying about if I’m playing or I’m not playing.
“I’ll make a call probably earlier in the week rather than later.
“This time last week I was confident I was probably going to play on Saturday night. But two weeks before that, it’s probably around the same thing.
“It took me two weeks then (to recover).
“Unless there’s a miracle …”
Prop Andrew Fifita is also battling a knee injury, the NSW State of Origin representative seen clutching scans as he arrived at Monday’s recovery session.
While the loss of Fifita would be a blow, Cronulla’s forward depth means cover for the front row is easily accessible.
Carney is another story, however, with contingency plans already being put together.
“We’ll give him right up `til the game, but we’ll have a back-up plan tomorrow,” Flanagan said.
“I might roll at some stage during the game with that sort of scenario – Wade or (Luke) Lewis at five-eighth and Chad could play as well.”
Flanagan meanwhile played down the conspiracy theories being pushed by the Cowboys as a result of the seventh tackle try scored by the Sharks on Saturday night.
“It had an impact on the game but it didn’t decide the game,” Flanagan said.
“There’s definitely not any conspiracy theory to try and have a Souths-Roosters grand final.
“I know there’s a couple of other teams – Melbourne, Manly and Newcastle – who would like to think they had a bit of a say in that.”