thanrldiva
Matthew Rodwell
Hospital drama for Gower
By Glenn Jackson and Greg Prichard
PENRITH halfback Craig Gower spent last night in hospital after suffering internal bleeding against the Eels at Parramatta Stadium yesterday.
Gower was taken to hospital shortly after half-time after coughing up blood on the field following a seemingly innocuous hit by Eels interchange player Marcus Perenara.
Tests last night appeared to clear him of any serious damage but indications were he had suffered bleeding in his airways.
"It's like a nose bleed but lower down in the airways," Penrith club doctor James Harrison said after seeing Gower last night.
Gower had two blood tests and an X-ray at Hills Private Hospital last night which ruled out a broken sternum and a bruised lung.
The former skipper was due to have more tests last night and was expected to see a chest specialist today.
Perenara, making his first-grade debut, was put on report for the hit on Gower in the 29th minute, with referee Shayne Hayne saying: "It wasn't high but it was late."
Harrison and Eels club doctor Michael Johnson worked on Gower in the Penrith dressing room as they waited for an ambulance.
Gower was having breathing difficulties at the height of the drama.
"He wasn't bad. His vital signs were pretty good," Harrison said. "There was no wheezing. He wasn't in any real distress like you'd see in an asthmatic or anyone like that. But you worry about any internal bleeding."
Harrison revealed Gower wanted to keep playing.
"He didn't want to come off," he said. "I don't think he would have got very far.
"He started coughing up blood almost straight away. He was getting some bleeding from the airways. That always makes you a little bit concerned that something major's happened. So we got him off.
"He wasn't vomiting, it was coming from the airways."
Harrison was unsure whether Gower would be out of action for any length of time and said there was a chance he could be cleared to play against Melbourne on Saturday.
"It's hard to say," he said. "If it's something fairly small you'd think it'd heal up pretty quick and he'd be back on the field in a couple of weeks," Harrison said.
Doctors were working on Gower as Panthers coach John Lang addressed the players at half-time.
"He looked pretty crook," Lang said. "I didn't get a chance to talk to him. Hopefully the symptoms might be worse than the damage.
The Kiwi international's dislocation started a terrible round of injuries for NRL stars with former Penrith captain Craig Gower rushed to hospital on Sunday with a suspected fractured sternum.
X-rays cleared the champion halfback of any bone damage but he will stay in hospital overnight.
"He started coughing up blood almost straight away, suggesting he was getting some bleeding from the airways somewhere there," Panthers club doctor Dr James Harrison said.
"That always makes you a little bit concerned."
Gower injured as Panthers win in NRL
*
* Normal font
* Large font
April 9, 2006 - 5:19PM
AdvertisementAdvertisement
Penrith may have paid a high price for their 44-18 thrashing of western Sydney rivals Parramatta with inspirational halfback Craig Gower rushed off to hospital with a sternum injury.
Gower was sent crashing to the turf in the 29th minute by what appeared an innocuous hit from Parramatta rookie Marcus Perenara, who was placed on report following the incident.
Play was held up for several minutes as Gower coughed up blood before being taken from the field.
He was sent off to hospital immediately for scans and will stay there overnight, though Penrith medical staff remain hopeful there was no fracture suffered and that the representative playmaker has only suffered a bruised lung.
"He started coughing up blood almost straight away, suggesting he was getting some bleeding from the airways somewhere there," Panthers club doctor James Harrison said.
"That always makes you a little bit concerned.
"His chest wall didn't seem too bad, he was a bit tender over the low sternum there, where the ribs come in on the right, but nothing major."
Penrith coach John Lang said he had immediate concerns when Gower failed to get up from the hit, but praised his troops for battling on.
"I even knew when he stayed down for as long as he did, I didn't think he was going to get up and play on then," Lang said.
"(But) I think it's going to be good for us because it showed the (other) guys what we are capable of.
"We've got the players that can score points, you've just got to believe in yourselves when things aren't quite happening for you."
The injury took the gloss off what was a magnificent fightback by the Panthers, who steamrolled to their third win of the season to maintain their position in the top four.
Penrith opened the stronger of the two sides with Preston Campbell and Gower both scoring from individual efforts, before Parramatta hit back when Dean Widders backed up a fine chip and chase from centre Timana Tahu to get the Eels back in the contest at 12-4.
But the loss of Gower seemed to rock the visitors, who appeared to lose their shape and composure without the midfield general.
Parramatta took advantage with two quick tries before the break to Tahu, the second of which capped a brilliant 80 metre movement as the halftime siren sounded and gave the home side an 18-14 lead.
Eels coach Brian Smith said afterwards that Tahu's try on the bell should have been the impetus for his side to go on with the job.
"We withstood and recovered from an onslaught by them, they played some great football early," Smith said.
"It was a great fightback, we played some good football but (in the) second half we obviously didn't sustain that nearly well enough.
"The last try before halftime was a motivational force that you'd like to think on lots of occasions would be the stimulation for a big second half."
Instead it was the Panthers who regrouped, with Luke Lewis moving to five-eighth and Shane Rodney to the centres, and the move paid immediate dividends as Rodney capitalised on a foolish pass from Eels winger Matt Petersen 20 metres out from his own line to go over untouched.
From there the Panthers put the foot on the accelerator with winger Lee Hookey extending the lead to eight in the 54th minute before a Rhys Wesser double and a late try to hooker Luke Priddis confirmed the two points for the Panthers.
Panthers overcome Gower loss to torch Eels
By Joel Zander
Parramatta fell away badly as Penrith handed them a 44-18 towelling in their round five National Rugby League clash at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers scored 30 unanswered second half points without influential half-back Craig Gower, who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken sternum after being shoulder charged in the first half.
Five-eighth Preston Campbell notched up 20 points from a try and eight goals while full-back Rhys Wesser, hooker Luke Priddis and centre Luke Lewis all had outstanding matches.
Penrith's forward pack also stood tall in a flashback to their premiership side of 2003.
"It was a big effort, to come away with a win like that was pretty good," Campbell told ABC Grandstand.
"We knew we just had to stick together and work as a team."
Gower left the field 30 minutes into the game after a shoulder charge from Marcus Perenara, who was put on report.
Penrith had led 12-0 but Parramatta fought back for an 18-14 half-time advantage after centre Timana Tahu bagged a brace of tries and set up another.
But it was all Penrith in the second half as the Eels inexplicably went missing.
Wesser crossed for a double while Lewis put Priddis away for a deserved four-pointer near full-time.
Campbell and Gower scored the Panthers' first half tries.
Parramatta full-back Wade McKinnon butchered two second half chances for the hapless Eels.
Gower hurt in Eels win
April 9, 2006
Parramatta 18 Penrith 44
PENRITH maintained its strong start to the NRL season with a win over Parramatta today, but the win may have come at a huge cost with halfback Craig Gower rushed to hospital with a sternum injury.
Gower was taken from the field in the 29th minute after copping a late hit from back-up Eels hooker Marcus Perenara, with the Panthers playmaker struggling to breathe as he made his way to the dressing rooms.
He was immediately taken to hospital, with Panthers officials not sure how serious the injury was, while Perenara was placed on report for the tackle.
It took the gloss off a courageous Panthers display at Parramatta Stadium, with the men from the foot of the mountains outscoring the Eels eight tries to four to notch up their fourth win of the season.
The visitors started the brighter of the two teams before a piece of individual brilliance from Preston Campbell, diving on his own grubber to score in the tenth minute, gave the Panthers the early advantage.
Gower followed his scrumbase partner's lead when he he did it all himself to beat two defenders and go over from 10 metres out, but a Rhys Wesser knock-on from the kick off gave the Eels the ball in handy field position.
The home side responded with Zeb Taia crashing over on debut, while Dean Widders cut the margin to just two when he went over in the 23rd minute after a clever chip and chase from centre Timana Tahu.
Campbell kicked the Panthers further ahead with a penalty following the Gower incident, but the Panthers then seemed to lose their way without their general on the field.
The Eels capitalised with Tahu grabbing a double in the three minutes before the break, the second of which was an 80 metre effort on the siren, with fullback Wade McKinnon busting the Panthers defence open as he returned an innocuous Luke Priddis kick.
Advertisement:
The half-time break came at just the right time for the visitors, allowing them to regroup.
Eels winger Matt Petersen aided the Panthers' cause with a foolish pass, thrown as he was going into touch, landing right in the arms of Panthers back rower Shane Rodney, who put his side back in front 20-18 as he raced over untouched.
From there the Panthers put the foot on the accelerator and were given a healthy stream of possession thanks to a litany of Eels errors.
Winger Lee Hookey backed up a fine run and offload from impressive front rower Matthew Cross to extend the lead to eight in the 54th minute, before a Wesser double and a late try to hooker Luke Priddis confirmed the two points for the Panthers.
Panthers overcome Gower loss to torch Eels
By Joel Zander
Parramatta fell away badly as Penrith handed them a 44-18 towelling in their round five National Rugby League clash at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers scored 30 unanswered second half points without influential half-back Craig Gower, who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken sternum after being shoulder charged in the first half.
Five-eighth Preston Campbell notched up 20 points from a try and eight goals while full-back Rhys Wesser, hooker Luke Priddis and centre Luke Lewis all had outstanding matches.
Penrith's forward pack also stood tall in a flashback to their premiership side of 2003.
"It was a big effort, to come away with a win like that was pretty good," Campbell told ABC Grandstand.
"We knew we just had to stick together and work as a team."
Gower left the field 30 minutes into the game after a shoulder charge from Marcus Perenara, who was put on report.
Penrith had led 12-0 but Parramatta fought back for an 18-14 half-time advantage after centre Timana Tahu bagged a brace of tries and set up another.
But it was all Penrith in the second half as the Eels inexplicably went missing.
Wesser crossed for a double while Lewis put Priddis away for a deserved four-pointer near full-time.
Campbell and Gower scored the Panthers' first half tries.
Parramatta full-back Wade McKinnon butchered two second half chances for the hapless Eels.
Panthers power minus Gower
by: Scott Brooks
Sportal
A possible fractured sternum to star halfback Craig Gower has soured the Panthers' emphatic 44-18 victory over the Eels at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.
Gower was directing traffic well for the Panthers and had scored a fine individual try in the first-half before he was felled by a charge from Eels interchange player Marcus Perenara in the 30th minute for which the New Zealander was placed on report.
The former Panthers skipper was immediately rushed to hospital and early indications are he could be out for an extended period.
But the loss of Gower could not dampen the enthusiasm of the visitors who emerged from a 14-18 deficit at halftime to score five unanswered tries in the second stanza, running out deserved 26-point winners.
The Panthers were best served by props Matthew Cross and Joel Clinton, while hooker Luke Priddis and five-eighth Preston Campbell stepped up to fill the playmaking void left in Gower's absence.
Penrith had the best of the early play and were the first to strike when Campbell collected his own grubber to score for a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes.
A fine individual effort by Gower a couple of minutes later saw the visitors double their lead, before the Eels struck back with two blows of their own.
The first came after Panthers fullback Rhys Wesser was ruled to have knocked on from the kick-off, despite the ball clearly going backwards. In the next set of six young second-rower Zeb Taia crashed over for an unconverted try on debut to see the Eels trail 4-12.
Parramatta were in again in the 23rd minute after some fine lead-up work from centre Timana Tahu sent interchange player Dean Widders on a clear run to the line, reducing the deficit to two.
Perenara's shot on Gower followed in the 30th minute, allowing Campbell to slot a penalty goal for a 14-10 lead to the Panthers.
Tahu scored two unconverted tries in the four minutes leading up to the break, giving the Eels an 18-14 lead after 40 minutes.
But the Panthers regained the lead just four minutes after halftime when an error from erratic Eels winger Matt Petersen saw forward Shane Rodney streak away for a converted try and a 20-18 advantage.
The visitors crossed on a further four occasions with the dashing Wesser bagging a double.
