Sports

Bulldogs nightmare as two stars injured early

By Ben Talintyre

Copyright news

Bulldogs nightmare as two stars injured early

Kikau miraculously didn’t suffer a broken eye socket after he copped an accidental elbow from Storm winger Will Warbrick.

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While the back rower’s eye socket was bruised and swollen, he managed to return.

You can watch the incident in the player above.

However, the news wasn’t so good for the Dogs’ skipper and spiritual leader Stephen Crichton who was ruled out for the game.

The centre got his boot stuck in the turf while trying to make a tackle and appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury.

“He’s staying on the park for now but is clearly hurt. I don’t know how he stays out there,” Greg Alexander said in commentary.

Crichton tried his best to run it off, hobbling for several minutes, but it was no use as he eventually succumed to the injury and headed straight down the tunnel.

Acoording to Fox Sports’ Jake Duke, the Dogs medical staff have confirmed it is a syndesmosis ankle strain.

Depending on the level of the injury, Crichton would miss anywhere from several weeks to months.

But with Crichton emerging from the sheds on crutches after half-time it is safe to assume his season is over.

And their injury drama only got worse in the second half with Enari Tuala hobbling off with a calf injury.

However, despite the adversity the Dogs incredibly lead 18-14 with just 20 minutes to go.