Melbourne Storm has suffered a double injury blow with both winger Sisa Waqa and centre Justin O’Neill facing at least a month on the sidelines.
Waqa, one of the leading try scorers in the NRL, will miss a month after aggravating an ankle injury in the Storm’s 16-10 loss to New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park on Friday night, while O’Neill will miss an undefined period after scans found a small fracture in his left ankle, an injury which happened late in the first half.
Waqa will have an arthroscope on his ankle while O’Neill will consult a surgeon on Monday to map out the best course for his recovery..
The two injuries will leave the Storm short of two first-choice players in their centres and wings as the State of Origin series approaches, taking the team's star players.
The Storm join the rest of the NRL in having a representative bye this coming weekend as Australia will play New Zealand on Friday and City will play Country in their annual representative game next Sunday.
The Australian and New Zealand sides are expected to be named on Sunday afternoon.
The Storm's next game is at AAMI Park against Manly Sea Eagles on May 10.
