The night of young Rabbitohs half-back Lachlan Ilias was ended before it even began after a “vicious” head-knock with a teammate in a classic case of friendly fire.
The incident occurred on just the second tackle of the night, as the young playmaker was tackling Knights second-rower Mitch Barnett and clashed heads with teammate Tevita Tatola.
Nine commentator Mat Thompson labelled the head clash “vicious”, while Andrew Johns grimaced as replays of the incident rolled through on Nine’s NRL coverage.
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“I’ll be surprised if he hasn’t fractured the cheek bone,” Johns said.
“Look at the egg already up on the cheekbone. That’s his night gone, for sure.”
Ilias was taken from the ground with a visibly swollen cheek bone and a gash.
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Nine sideline reporter Danika Mason initially said the Rabbitohs were not concerned about the cheek injury, with the team at one point confident Ilias would return to the field.
So confident were the Rabbitohs that Ilias would return to the field, that they started the test too late to take advantage of the free interchange rule. However, Ilias wound up failing the HIA and did not return.
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