Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo lauded Jacob Preston’s selflessness after he played through the anguish of a broken jaw in his team’s Good Friday loss to South Sydney, saying the forward would “never let down his teammates or the Bulldogs jersey.”
Preston was injured when attempting to tackle Shaquai Mitchell in the 46th minute, when his face impacted with the Rabbitohs forward’s shoulder.
Preston, who received the Dr. George Peponis Medal as the Bulldogs’ best player for the 2023 season, lay motionless on the field for some time while being examined by medical personnel.
The 22-year-old was eventually taken off for a head injury evaluation, and he was cleared of concussion. He then returned to the game, despite suffering a hairline fracture.
“It’s another indication of Jacob’s willingness to never let down his teammates or the Bulldogs jersey,” the coach stated.
“He decided to push through the agony despite an injury that we just discovered the full extent of on Saturday morning.
“It says a lot about the character Jacob has and what we love about him.”
When asked about the incident after the game, Preston downplayed it, despite an ankle scare in the first half caused by a suspected Jack Wighton hip-drop tackle.
“I hit my jaw, and they [medical staff] were just checking that,” Preston said of the Mitchell punch. “I passed every concussion test. “I was sweet.”
Preston declined to comment on the Wighton tackle. I’m not sure; I didn’t really see it [the replay]. It’s one of those occurrences in football.”
Scans on Saturday morning revealed Preston’s jaw injury. He is likely to be out for at least three weeks.
It is a devastating setback for a club that will also be without Josh Addo-Carr for Friday night’s game against the Roosters due to a concussion sustained just before halftime.
The Bulldogs did not earn a penalty for the damage-causing tackle, in which good friend Latrell Mitchell accidently collected “The Foxx” with his hip. On Saturday, the match review committee accused Mitchell with dangerous contact.
The Souths fullback will not miss any playing time as a result of the incident; the grade-one offense carries a $1800 fine with an early guilty plea, which increases to $2500 if he fights the charge and loses.
Ciraldo may also be without Kurtis Morrin, who faces a two-game suspension after entering an early guilty plea to a grade-two hazardous throw. If Morrin fails to contest the charge for the 51st-minute tackle on Cameron Murray, he will be suspended for three games.
If Bulldogs fullback Blake Taafe enters an early guilty plea on a grade-one dangerous contact allegation, he will face a $1000 fine.
Ciraldo has been aiming to give his team a stronger edge in 2024, and Preston’s ability to play through the anguish of a devastating facial injury will not go unnoticed at Belmore.
“Twelve months ago, if we had gone down 10-0 on a day like today, it would have most likely continued and turned ugly,” Ciraldo stated in his post-match press conference.
“We’re a team that’s got a lot of effort at the moment – but at some stage, we’re gonna need to execute better and that’s what we need to figure out pretty quickly.”
Leave a Reply