Newtown Jets five-eighth Khaled Rajab will be given every chance to prove his fitness for Sunday’s NRL State Championship match against the Norths Devils, as part of the NRL and NRLW Grand Final Day at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Sunday.
Jets coach George Ndaira said Rajab was being monitored by football staff as he rehabs a shoulder injury suffered in the 65th minute of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Grand Final win (28-22) over the North Sydney Bears at CommBank last Sunday (29 September).
Rajab was forced from the field with hooker Jayden Berrell (pictured above, Photo: Bryden Sharp) moving into No.6 for the final 15 minutes.
“We’re going to give him as long as we can. He pulled up well yesterday so he’s tracking along to be okay for Sunday,” Ndaira told nswrl.com.au after naming an unchanged line-up to face the Devils, who beat the Dolphins 34-20 in the QRL’s Hostplus Cup Grand Final.
“We’ll just keep reviewing Khaled over the next couple of days so he has that chance of taking the field.”
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks half Daniel Atkinson has been mentioned as a possible replacement. But he has only played seven NSW Cup matches in 2024 and the requirement is eight in a season.
“I guess once we’re more clear on what Khaled’s position is, then we’ll have more of an understanding if we can apply to have him (Atkinson) come into the side or not,” Ndaira said.
The Jets players were given two days off to enjoy their win but were scheduled to have their first training run at Henson Park tonight (Tuesday 1 October).
“We’ll get around each other tonight and I’m sure they’ve freshened up and are raring to go again on Sunday.
“It’s that time of year where everyone is feeling fatigued. There’s a few bumps and bruises – the usual soreness – but nothing out of the ordinary apart from Khaled.
“We don’t have to re-invent the wheel for this match. The early part of the week we’ll focus on ourselves and then later in the week we’ll take more of a look at Norths Devils.
“A big part for us will be to be a bit more clinical and try to execute a little better than we did against the Bears and that will hold us in good stead.”
Ndaira said the Newtown club was also looking to honour its former president (1986-2018) Barry Vining, at the NRL State Championship game. Vining passed away last weekend at the age of 85.
“Barry was a really important part of Newtown’s history. A lot of people are still feeling very raw about losing him. But we’re thinking we’ll wear black armbands, or looking to honour him in other ways on game day.”
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