Fresh twist in Penrith star’s fitness race as Reynolds firms for Bunnies: NRL GF Late Mail

The Panthers are sweating on the fitness of Dylan Edwards, who is in a moon boot and faces a crunch fitness test on his injured foot.

Edwards did not attend a fan day on Friday and is in serious doubt for the grand final.

Meanwhile, Souths skipper Adam Reynolds believes he is tracking well to resume the kicking duties for the decider but won’t now until the captain’s run.

Panthers team: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Stephen Crichton 3. Paul Momirovski 4. Matt Burton 5. Brian To’o 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Kurt Capewell 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Tyrone May 15. Scott Sorensen 16. Spencer Leniu 17. Liam Martin 18. Brent Naden 19. Mitch Kenny 20. J’maine Hopgood 21. Charlie Staines Players cut:

Late Mail: Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards is in doubt for the Grand Final after starting the week in a moon boot at training due to a foot injury. Edwards faces a crunch fitness test on the foot injury he has carried for two months later in the week.

Channel 7’s Chris Garry tweeted on Friday that Edwards was pulled from the club’s fan day due to the injury.

The ligament injury has seen Charlie Staines added to the Penrith 21 this week as cover. If Edwards is ruled out Stephen Crichton would likely shift to fullback with Brent Naden or Staines coming in on the wing. Naden is the frontrunner given he was 18th man for the Panthers in their preliminary final if Edwards fails to recover in time. Props James Fisher-Harris who injured his knee in the preliminary final and Moses Leota who was a late scratching for the clash with the Storm due to a calf injury are expected to be fit to take their places for the decider.

Club legend Greg Alexander admitted the squad is “struggling” but is confident they’ll be ready to go on Sunday.

“They do look battered. When you see vision of them up in Queensland, Brian To’o was in a wheelchair, Dylan Edwards is in a boot, they’re struggling,” he told NRL 360.

“But the excitement of playing another grand final and the chance to get right what they didn’t get right last year, that overrides anything. The bumps and bruises will disappear, by the time we get to Sunday they’ll be ready. They might be on one leg some of them, but chance for redemption will override whatever they’re feeling.”

Rabbitohs team: 1. Blake Taaffe 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dane Gagai 4. Campbell Graham 5. Jaxson Paulo 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Mark Nicholls 9. Damien Cook 10. Tevita Tatola 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Cameron Murray 14. Benji Marshall 15. Jacob Host 16. Thomas Burgess 17. Jai Arrow 18. Taane Milne 19. Patrick Mago 20. Braidon Burns 21. Jed Cartwright

Players cut:

Late Mail: Skipper Adam Reynolds was on light duties to start the week as he manages his groin injury in the build-up to the grand final. “I felt pretty good and got some kilometres in the legs,” Reynolds said on Tuesday. “I’ve still got to get through a bit of kicking and join the team for a bit of work. It’s still a long week, still plenty of time to get back to 100 per cent or as close as possible.” However Reynolds won’t know if he is kicking goals in the grand final until the captain’s run. “We’ll see how the week goes. I did a bit of running today, felt fine. We’ll tick a few boxes and we’ll get to captain’s run and I’ll have a few shots then and see how it feels,” Reynolds said. “But I’m pretty confident that I will be kicking.” If Reynolds fails to recover enough to kick goals Blake Taaffe will take over the kicking duties again.

Referee: Gerard Sutton; Sideline Officials: Dave Munro, Todd Smith; Video Referee: Grant Atkins.

Source: foxsports.com.au

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Foxsports.com.au