The return from injury by George Jennings and Tom Eisenhuth provided two of the positives for Melbourne Storm players in the Hostplus Cup over the weekend.
After sustaining a ruptured ACL in round one of the NRL last year, Jennings played his first minutes for 2023 when he made his debut for the Brisbane Tigers against Wynnum-Manly on Sunday.
The winger played 52 minutes and scored a try as the Tigers lost 28-26 at home. Young hooker Cole Geyer played his first minutes for the Tigers off the bench, while last year’s Tigers Player of the Year Jordan Grant started in the front-row and picked up a team-high 172 metres in 20 hit-ups.
Eisenhuth made his first appearance of the year for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, returning from a lower back issue which has kept him out of contention for an NRL spot over the opening three rounds.
His 31 minutes off the bench included a try assist and a linebreak assist.
A Falcons team laded with Storm talent thumped the Ipswich Jets with Young Tonumaipea (two), Grant Anderson, Sua Fa’alogo and Lazarus Vaalepu amongst the try scorers.
Anderson warmed up for Storm as 19th man against the Gold Coast Titans before making the drive to Ipswich and crossed in the opening minute. He totalled 171 metres to go with three linebreaks and two try assists.
Jayden Nikorima, Aaron Pene, Jack Howarth and Chris Lewis also featured in the Falcons’ line-up.
