64 SPORT SUNDAY MAY 13 2018 Panther on his Knight shines to push way back

MICHAEL CARAYANNIS

JOSH Mansour burst into Raiders over the line tears. Before he could even open his mouth his emotion got the better of him. JACK HISLOP “I remember when I woke up I just broke down,” Mansour PALMERSTON retained the said. “The first people I saw Mitchell Russell Shield at SCORES were my wife and daughter. Webber Park last night, com- When I could see them with ing from behind to beat Litch- Palmerston 18 (P. Mati-Liefi, D. my own eyes ... words could not field 18-12 in the best match of Knight, C. Chettle tries; B. describe the relief that I had. Round 1. Hansen 3 goals) def. “It gave me goose bumps.” The Bears led by two points Litchfield 12 (C. Ward, J. Tomes More than seven hours ear- with 20 minutes to play, but a tries; C. Ward 2 goals) lier, Penrith Panther Mansour charge-down try from Raiders Brothers 58 (D. Good 2, C. underwent an operation for halfback Daniel Knight shifted Mayo 2, J. Davern, G. Cubillo, D. what his surgeon described as the momentum, and from that Gilbert, N. Roach, R. Barba, A. the worst sporting injury he point Palmerston closed the Warhurst, A. Pollard, J. Saveka had seen. While trying to catch game out with class. tries; R. Barba 5 goals) def. a high ball, Mansour suffered Daniel Keelan’s side took Northern Sharks 6 (Darren five fractures thanks to the an 8-6 lead into the break after Caulton try; Victor Campbell knee of a flying Gold Coast the teams traded tries in the goal) Titan . first stanza. A Brad Hansen Nightcliff 50 def. Katherine 18 “I was on the ground clutch- penalty goal on the halftime ing my face and I could feel a siren handed Palmerston the hole in my face,” Mansour said. buffer, but it was taken away 14 “I had no cheekbone. There minutes into the second period was a big hole there. The physi- through a superb solo try from os wanted me to turn around Jason Tomes. but I didn’t want to show them Collecting early ball on the because I was petrified of their right edge, the centre skipped reaction. The worst case scen- his way past three would-be ario was losing my eye.” Palmerston defenders with That was on April 15. The silky footwork before muscling swelling was so severe that it his way over the stripe. was two weeks before Mansour The Raiders’ forwards could be operated on. worked relentlessly for the full He now has 18 screws and 80 minutes, with Adam Hall three plates in his face ... and and Phil Mati-Liefi providing said he hoped to resume train- the grunt, and Shane Smith ing on this week. and Lachlan Bryan go-forward on the edges. They won the power battle midway through the second half and it proved Return the catalyst for victory. Bears pivot David Jacobson was forced to boot the ball likely for from within his own 30 metre Chris Wishart of the Palmerston Raiders tries to break a lunging tackle by the Bears' Dillan Vanderburg during the NRLNT Men's A line, off the back of a slow play- Grade match at Fred's Pass last night Picture: FELICITY ELLIOTT Hodkinson the-ball, and Knight snatched the opportunity to strike. The eventually touched down in Sam McCauley looked the squad over the off season. by Angus Warhurst, Eddie half charged it down before re- the corner. goods out of dummy-half. The Brethren took a 16-0 at Wosomo and former winger TRENT Hodkinson’s long- gathering and darting across Notwithstanding, Litchfield Meanwhile at Anula Oval, into the break after dropping a Josh Saveka, who coach Moses awaited return to Manly is now the stripe. can take heart from its per- Brothers beat the Northern lot of first half ball. Callum Wigness shifted into the sec- back on the table, with the Sea The Raiders then closed out formance. Playing without Sharks 58-6. The reigning pre- Mayo and Daniel Good both ond row. Eagles offering the half an 18- the game through an 80m reigning Frank Johnson Med- miers were forced to play the crossed for doubles in the sec- In Katherine, Luke Kelly’s month deal. team try. The ball went allist Matt Goodfellow, Kyle same outfit in both reserve and ond period while Rodney homecoming wasn’t enough to While Cronulla had yet to through four separate sets of Ramage filled in at halfback first grade, having lost most of Barba finished with 14 points. get the Cowboys home against receive the paperwork, the par- hands before Clint Chettle admirably, while new recruit their championship winning Brothers’ small pack was led Nightcliff, who won 50-16 win. ties have a handshake agree- ment that they will release Hodkinson should he receive a multi-year deal. Titans let sloppy Storm in for win Hodkinson pulled out of the clash in the NSW Intrust Super Premiership yes- MURRAY WENZEL STORM fort on the New Zealander. terday and could join Manly as 28 Melbourne jumped to an 8-0 early as tomorrow in prep- A SLOPPY Melbourne have lead as the NRL’s worst defen- aration for their next clash done enough to secure the TITANS sive team again displayed plen- against Melbourne on Saturday. points against an injury- riddled 14 ty of leaks. Manly would be Hodkin- Gold Coast in a bruising opener MELBOURNE But, sparked by some big son’s third club this year after to ’s NRL double Tries: J Addo-Carr F Kaufusi C tackling from debutante half starting the pre-season at New- header. Melbourne finished Munster C Scott and some castle. 28-14 winners yesterday even- Goals: C Smith 6 uncharacteristic Storm hand- He joined Cronulla in Febru- ing at Suncorp Stadium, with GOLD COAST ling errors, the Titans were able ary and has played four top- three second-half tries saving Tries: D Copley B Lee to steady. Ashley Taylor rel- grade games as a back-up to embarrassment. Goals: M Gordon 3 ished the stability, taking con- . ’s sin-bin- trol at the back end of the half The Sea Eagles were keen to ning for a professional foul that Wallace (head knock), Will to lay on two tries as the Titans lure him when he was released stopped a probable Titans try Matthews (head knock), Kevin went to the sheds up 14-8. First from Newcastle this year, only gave the Titans a late sniff. Proctor (groin) and Keegan he went short to Titans debu- to be hamstrung by the NRL’s But with the Gold Coast Hipgrave (wrist) were all in the tante , the Canberra salary cap investigation. probing, Josh Addo-Carr casualty ward. signing barging over in the An injury-ravaged Manly scooped up a loose pass and Wallace and Hipgrave re- right corner. side have lost the off-contract raced away to seal the contest turned but another head clash A fumble al- Lachlan Croker (knee) for the with his 12th try this season. put out of ac- lowed to dart 30 season, with a Looking to snap a run of tion, while Melbourne half metres before Taylor found makeshift five-eighth as they four straight losses, the Titans was also ruled out Dale Copley for another four- still recover from the off-season led 14-8 against the defending of the clash with concussion. pointer. Injury spoiled the Ti- departure of Blake Green. premiers before being hit by a Proctor’s injury came in a tans’ second-half plans as tries Hodkinson, 29, made his top crippling sequence of injuries. tackle, with the to and Cameron grade debut for Manly in 2010, At one stage, Garth Brennan’s Storm captain going unpun- Munster edged the Storm clear AJ Brimson of the Titans is tackled by of the Storm playing 24 matches before join- bench was empty after Jarrod ished despite his awkward ef- for their sixth win. Picture: AAP ing the Bulldogs.

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