Manly Sea Eagles front-rower Haumole Olakau'atu has today suffered one of the nastiest injuries in recent rugby league history during the first round of the NSW Cup.
The 22-year-old got tangled in an awkward tackle with ball-carrier Matt Ikuvalu, a Sydney Roosters winger, in which leading sports physiotherapist Brien Seeney says he dislocated his right elbow.
The incident, which occurred in a clash between the North Sydney Bears and Blacktown Sea Eagles, resulted in Ikuvalu getting sent off in the 59th minute when on-field officials deemed he had performed a chicken-wing tackle.
So excruciating did the dislocation appear that three of the Bears' players in the video, including teen sensation Joseph Suaalii, could not look. As soon they saw how badly twisted Olakau'atu's arm was, they grimaced, turned and darted from the scene hastily.
Seeney said a clean dislocation would keep Olakau'atu on the sideline for three to four weeks, while ligament damage and/or a fracture would rule him out for six weeks or longer.
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