Former Leeds Rhinos star Morgan Gannon injured during NRL debut for New Zealand Warriors
Former Leeds Rhinos star Morgan Gannon endured a painfully brief NRL debut for New Zealand Warriors today (Saturday).
The 22-year-old Rhinos academy product started in the second-row for Warriors away to Newcastle Knights, but lasted less than five minutes before being hurt attempting to tackle Jacob Saifiti. He subsequently failed a head injury assessment and will miss New Zealand’s next game under the sport’s concussion protocol.
“He’s fine, just frustrated,” Warriors coach Andrew Webster said in his post-match press conference. “It was his NRL debut, his dad’s from Newcastle [so] a great location to do it. His brother and partner were here, I think his nan lives in the city.
“It would have been really special, but we just spoke about not letting it define his career. He is going to go on and hopefully play lots of games for the Warriors and in the NRL.”
Gannon suffered a series of concussion issues during his time at Rhinos and was stood down for the entire 2024 campaign. Having joined Warriors from Leeds at the end of last year, he played in two pre-season games and was an unused substitute in NRL round one.
He was called into the team after playing the full 80 minutes for Warriors’ New South Wales Cup side in a 44-12 win over Canberra Raiders. The Auckland-based outfit went on to defeat Knights 38-12 in today’s game.