Perenara out for season with broken ankle

[Darwin]

The Hurricanes' hopes of reaching the Super Rugby playoffs have been dealt a huge blow with Mark Hammett confirming that halfback TJ Perenara is out for the remainder of the season with a broken ankle.

Perenara broke his ankle in the Hurricanes' 36-7 win over the Reds in a friendly game on the Sunshine Coast last night and the Hurricanes coach says it's likely to be the end of the talented No 9's year in terms of playing rugby.
"He had surgery last night and is likely to be out for four to six months," Hammett said from Australia.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/7115225/Perenara-out-for-season-with-broken-ankle

Massive blow for Perenara, as he has been in superb form this season - he would be in the AB's squad already if I was a selector. The Hurricanes are currently sitting 6th on the table, but I think the loss of Perenara will mean it is very unlikely that they will be able to force their way into the playoffs. Perenara been in superb form, not only individually but also playing a major role in organizing both the attack and defense, and the step down to the next best alternative (Chris Eaton) is huge. Eaton is a solid defender, and can be a dangerous runner at the base of the breakdown, but his distribution is pretty woeful at times - given the Hurricanes rely so heavily on the brilliance of their backline, having a halfback who can't deliver them quality ball is going to be a massive issue!

Hopefully Perenara recovers quickly from his injury, though it looks unlikely at this stage that he will be fit for the AB's end-of-year tour (which would have been a great time to give him his AB's debut...).

 

[nickdnz]

Yep, huge blow. Without Victor Vito and TJ Peranara, we're pretty much screwed.

 

[Darwin]

I'd forgotten Vito was out too! I can't see them getting close to either the Crusaders or the Chiefs without those two....

 

[nickdnz]

Neither can I. It's a shame really, and it's also very poor management. The Reds didn't have much to lose in this preseason game with a large bulk already in the Wallabies and their 22 chosen was used to test players, we went for our best lineup barring All Blacks. The results of this game (Hurricanes 36: Reds 7) means nothing now that we've lost our best halfback and we have to perform better than the Reds in order to qualify for the playoffs. I think Mark Hammett is a good coach, but a very poor decision to start players who we need to start in order to get to the playoffs, in a match that means nothing, against a team we're competing with for the 6th spot. That's pretty much us done and dusted. We're also likely to be without Cory Jane for the rest of the tournament, so yep. That's us.

 

[TNT88]

Remember watching him in Perth. He had a blinder, definitely made the most out of any front foot ball the canes' got. Unlucky with the injury, big loss for them.

 

[William18]

Neither can I. It's a shame really, and it's also very poor management. The Reds didn't have much to lose in this preseason game with a large bulk already in the Wallabies and their 22 chosen was used to test players, we went for our best lineup barring All Blacks. The results of this game (Hurricanes 36: Reds 7) means nothing now that we've lost our best halfback and we have to perform better than the Reds in order to qualify for the playoffs. I think Mark Hammett is a good coach, but a very poor decision to start players who we need to start in order to get to the playoffs, in a match that means nothing, against a team we're competing with for the 6th spot. That's pretty much us done and dusted. We're also likely to be without Cory Jane for the rest of the tournament, so yep. That's us.

Hurricanes: James Marshall, Richard Buckman/Waisake Naholo, Alapati Leiua, Jayden Hayward, Andre Taylor, Tusi Pisi, Chris Eaton, Mike Coman (captain), Jack Lam, Brad Shields, James Broadhurst, Mark Reddish, Michael Bent, Motu Matu'u, Reg Goodes. Reserves: Dane Coles/David Hall, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen/Tristan Moran, Faifili Levave/Jeremy Thrush, Ardie Savea, Frae Wilson, Daniel Kirkpatrick, TJ Perenara.

That criticism is harsh given the team he picked. Perenara didn't even start.

 

[Dizzy]

Neither can I. It's a shame really, and it's also very poor management. The Reds didn't have much to lose in this preseason game with a large bulk already in the Wallabies and their 22 chosen was used to test players, we went for our best lineup barring All Blacks. The results of this game (Hurricanes 36: Reds 7) means nothing now that we've lost our best halfback and we have to perform better than the Reds in order to qualify for the playoffs. I think Mark Hammett is a good coach, but a very poor decision to start players who we need to start in order to get to the playoffs, in a match that means nothing, against a team we're competing with for the 6th spot. That's pretty much us done and dusted. We're also likely to be without Cory Jane for the rest of the tournament, so yep. That's us.

Well actually Nick, we have to do better than the Reds, The Highlanders and The Sharks...

It looks very unlikely unless we can win one game against the Crusaders or the Chiefs,... I'm booking them to beat the Chiefs.