The Roosters will be counting their lucky stars club favourite and NRL enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves escaped injury after becoming trapped in a horror tackle against the Dragons
The Tricolours saw off a gallant second-half comeback from the Red V as Daniel Tupou emerged in a late flurry to bag a sensational hat-trick in Toowoomba.
The 40-22 result all but ended the Dragons’ season as the Roosters firmed up their hold on a fourth-place finish ahead of finals football.
But their post-season preparation could have been doomed in a split-second when Waerea-Hargreaves went down in a gruesome tackle early in the match.
The enforcer sent panic around Clive Berghofer Stadium when his legs became trapped underneath him and splayed out as players piled onto the ruck.
Play immediately stopped for some time as members from both teams rushed to his aid, with trainers soon on the pitch to tend to the Chooks favourite.
“The pain, everyone felt it there…the big fella let out a scream of agony,” Fox Sports’s Andrew Voss said in commentary.
NSW Blues great Greg Alexander agreed.
“Both legs are spread, he goes backwards… players just aren’t that flexible are they to be doing something like that. He immediately grabbed the inside of that right knee,” he said.
Miraculously, Waerea-Hargreaves rose to his feet just minutes later, much to the disbelief of fans at Toowoomba, dusting himself pff before rejoining his place in the defensive line.
“This is extraordinary if he gets to his feet and is able to play on because your leg is not meant to be bent in that manner,” Voss said.
“His leg must be made of rubber, he must have some incredible elasticity in his legs to allow him to get up because that looked so bad and here he is standing and he’s going to play on.”
Meanwhile, teammate Nat Butcher wouldn’t be so lucky when he suffered what looked to be a knee injury in the opening seconds of the second half in a tackle with Tariq Sims.
He played no further part in the match, with the extent of his injury still yet to be confirmed.
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