Painful end for Kerikeri as injury stops game

Ross McFarlane and his Takahiwai rugby league side couldn't side step an injury which forced the stoppage of their game with Kerikeri.

A neck injury to Takahiwai centre Sosaia Tali stopped any chance of Kerikeri causing the upset of the season in the Rugby League Northland Multikai Premiership.

The injury at the beginning of the final quarter on Saturday was so reminiscent of Newcastle's Alex McKinnon's recent spinal injury in the NRL that all thoughts of the game were quickly forgotten as every precaution was taken to ensure his safe removal to hospital for evaluation.

The match was abandoned.

Takahiwai coach Mark Freeman said although the injury did not seem as serious as McKinnon's, no chances could be taken with his health.

"He fell across the top of his head in the tackle which bent it down to his chest - similar to the boy from Newcastle - so we took all the precautions we could getting him into the ambulance," he said.

Freeman said it was a pity because Tali was having a great game up until that point and now he is likely to face a lengthy layoff from the game.

The hard-running centre is understood to have suffered a neck fracture but fortunately has no spinal chord damage.

Although he was walking around on Sunday, he is likely to spend a couple of days in hospital for further observation.

Kerikeri coach Benson Selwyn was relieved the injury wasn't as serious as it might have been but he was left to contemplate what could have been if it hadn't occurred.

Kerikeri have started the season slowly and were winless going into the match against the undefeated Takahiwai.

They stunned the competition leaders with the quality of their play with fullback Jamal King and standoff Tama Webb leading the way.

They had established a four point lead with every intention of closing out the match until they were robbed of the chance of a major upset.

"If we could have finished what we started it would have been our first win of the season ... but as it is we'll have to take what we get and the way we played was a big bonus for us - we're improving game by game," Selwyn said.

Freeman said that although Takahiwai were below full strength for the game, they were surprised at the way Kerikeri played.

"I think everyone, players and the coaching staff included, were surprised at what Kerikeri brought to the game, they played well and once they got a roll on they were pretty hard to stop. It was a really good game because everybody was having a go," he said.

The result of the abandoned match will now be decided by the competition's management committee but the most likely outcome will see the competition points shared by the two clubs.

In other RLN Multikai Cooker Premiership matches, Hora Hora defeated Moerewa 62-24, while Otangarei's competition prospects continue to strengthen with a comfortable win over Portland 50-22.

Hokianga were too strong for their Muriwhenua neighbours in the northern derby winning 48-24, while Hikurangi won an important match against fellow southern contenders Northern Wairoa 48-30.