Sore Eagles Jason Avedissian 22 April 2008 http://manlydaily.com.au/article/2008/04/22/9788_sports.html MANLY winger Michael Bani is tipped to make an astonishing recovery from a potentially serious neck injury and play in the Sea Eagles round seven NRL clash with the Bulldogs. Bani should be picked in the Sea Eagles wounded squad this afternoon despite spending Friday night at Westmead Hospital. The 23-year-old complained of feeling pins and needles in his arms and legs after he was injured in an innocuous tackle during Manly's terrific four-point win over the Eels at Parramatta Stadium on Friday night. Play was held up for six minutes as Bani was taken from the field with teammates and supporters fearing the worst. X-rays later cleared the Cairns junior of any serious neck damage. Incredibly, Bani is one of eight Sea Eagles who will not train today as the club recovers from their epic battle with the Eels. Bani's housemate Noel Cleal and the club's medical staff Dr Paul Bloomfield and Andre Rickenbach were with the young winger until the early hours of Saturday morning as he recovered. "He was fine," Cleal said last night. "It's part of footy. "You have to err on the side of caution with those type of injuries." Yesterday, club legend Ken Arthurson hailed the gripping win over their arch-rivals as one of the finest in the club's 61-year history (see Pages 20-21). "It's one of the gutsiet's wins of all time - to fight back the way they did with no reserves left in the end," he said. But the victory has come at a heavy price with Bani (neck), Jason King (leg), Steve Menzies (hamstring), Matt Orford (shoulder), Mark Bryant (knee), Luke Williamson (concussion) and Steve Matai (shoulder) all in rehabilitation at Narrabeen this morning. Second-rower Anthony Watmough (foot) is also still out of action. From Friday night, Menzies is the worst and will miss at least three weeks, while Bryant and Bani will be monitored during the week. "It's just the intensity of the competition these days," Manly coach Des Hasler said of the injuries. "It takes longer for players to recover, particularly that sort of game." Hasler added Bani was a "50-50" prospect of playing against the Bulldogs at Brookvale Oval on Saturday evening. King, Orford, Williamson and Matai will all play. Second-rower Glenn Stewart, among the best in Manly's win and under consideration for a Country Origin jumper, said he was unaware numbers were thin on the bench. "I'm very proud of the boys," he said. "To get through game the way we did, with all the boys digging deep we are obviously going to take a lot of confidence from it."
I still don't know why there were no question marks on that Bani tackle. It was high, if that were round one, there would the eels would have been on report
