League: Injury brings early end

Hokianga's Eli George is held by Portland's Reece Bermingham and Elsion Wihongi during their round 15 encounter. Photo / Tania Whyte

A dismal, damp day of rugby league wrung-out a disappointing end for the Hokianga Pioneers who travelled south to play the Portland Panthers.

In a wet and soggy affair, the game between the two premiership playoff contenders was abandoned after 50 minutes as a result of a devastating leg injury to Hokianga player Andre Lennox.

Injured in the tackle of a Portland defender, a loud snap was heard by several onlookers - some 50-plus metres away.

"His ACL is gone and ligaments have all had it," Hokianga coach Jason Smith said of Lennox's injury.

Just as his side were looking to run away with a much needed win over Portland - especially after dominating the first half with several well-executed tries - the match was called-off with the scoreboard reading 30-16 to the visiting Pioneers.

Lying in the mud and rain for over an hour, Lennox was unable to be moved until an ambulance arrived.

Smith said he was not happy with the tackle which caused the injury, "but otherwise it was a good game".

"The boys played well. Our discipline was really good and we lifted. All my boys stayed there until the ambulance came.

Portland Panthers Sharif Mangu has a run.

"I could see the boys were a bit angry [but I'm] proud of the boys, not just for the game but the way they comforted their brother."

Portland coach Craig Bird said there was a slight desire to play on.

"Yeah, but the conditions weren't that well and we knew that the ambulance was going to be a while.

"When the game got called it could have gone either way.

"The way I look at it is in the last 20 minutes we would've come back, that's what I was hoping anyway."

With the game being abandoned, three options have been made available by Rugby League Northland for the two teams to decide on together.

In a meeting tomorrow, both team committees will dispute whether to: use the score at the time the match was called-off, replay the game within the next 14 days or divide the two competition points between them.

While Smith hinted he was hoping a rematch could be played, the wellbeing of Lennox was the main priority.

Portland coach Bird said he would like to avoid the hassle of a rematch if possible.

"I'll let the people in our committee and their committee work on that, we'll just focus on our trainings," he said.

"We'll wait with bated breath, I hope it goes one point because the game didn't finish."