Shattered Storm superstar to miss entire NRL season

Melbourne star Xavier Coates to miss remainder of NRL season after rupturing Achilles Melbourne's fragile hopes of making the NRL finals have been dealt a major blow with star winger Xavier Coates ruled out for the season after snapping his Achilles. Coates was on the comeback trail after injuring his Achilles in the pre-season, requiring surgery that put him out for three months. With State of Origin off the table, the Storm set a target of round 10 for his return but that was pushed back with the Queensland representative flyer's recovery slower than expected. Coates had resumed running and looking to integrate with the main squad in the next week when the 25-year-old suffered the crushing injury on Friday at training. "I was running and it just popped," a shattered Coates said. "I was only running at about 50 per cent and it just went." He is set to undergo another round of surgery after consulting a specialist. With six wins for the season, Melbourne have missed the aerial threat of Coates and his try-scoring prowess, bagging 20 tries in 22 matches last season. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said the players were told of their popular teammate's injury before the match and he believed team's effort in securing the 32-30 win stemmed from that news. Skipper Harry Grant said it was "heavy" to hear and he hoped Coates would get back to his best. "I think it was only a couple of weeks from returning … Xav's the ultimate team man, he always puts everyone before himself, and you know what you're going to get from him week in, week out," Grant said. "The club's got his back now, and I think for Xav, he knows that a lot of people have been through that injury and come out on top. "What he's had has been pretty off and on, up and down, and he hasn't really been able to push through it, so I guess now he will get the repair done, the full rupture, and fingers crossed get on with a clean slate of the rehab journey." Coates attended the Storm's match at AAMI Park against Newcastle on Friday night and was wearing a moon-boot on his left leg and using a scooter to get around. The Storm came out on top in a seesawing clash with the Knights, extending their 11-year winning run over Newcastle at AAMI Park with a 32-30 victory. Meanwhile, the Roosters were dominant against the Raiders in Canberra, with the returning Mark Nawaqanitawase crossing three times in a 26-0 victory for the Tricolours. Re-live the action in the live blog below, keep up to date with all the latest stats in our ScoreCentre, and tune in to our live radio coverage. AAP Submit a comment or question Live updates Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 6:26pm Update New: Filters Choose what information you see below by using filters Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:53pm Fulltime: Roosters 26 def Raiders 0 And that'll do us. A comprehensive win for the Roosters over a very ordinary Canberra side. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:50pm Injury: Ethan Sanders The young halfback has gone off with a glute problem but given the game is gone the Raiders are saying it's just a precaution. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:47pm 75' Roosters can't get another The Roosters spread it right, Smith gets into some space, he looks to put it down but can't do so under pressure from Weekes. Roosters haven't lit it up since halftime but they haven't needed to. Trent Robinson will be very pleased with their defensive effort. Canberra ruck it out. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:45pm 73' Roosters hold again The Roosters give away a penalty inside the ten on the last and Canberra have a chance at some late points. Crichton knocks down a pass to give them another set. Sanders puts a kick in but Tedesco is there to clean it up easily. I don't think Canberra are scoring tonight. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:36pm 65' Whyte denied a try Stuart drops a bomb inside his own 20 and the Roosters have a chance at another. Whyte's the man who gets it, just twisting through some awful defence for a well-deserved try from the big man. But the Bunker doesn't like it, they've pinged Wong for obstruction in the lead up. Raiders penalty. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:27pm 58' Roosters hold their line again Young goes blind on the last and the Roosters knock on his flick pass. Canberra get a scrum feed on halfway. Young kicks for himself, it hits the post and Watson cleans it up but he's taken into the in-goal. They go left on the last through Weekes but Toia monsters him to take him down. Roosters hold their line. Key Event Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:19pm 51' Nawaqanitawase gets his third Savage drops a Walker bomb and it's another pressure set for Canberra. Straight off the scrum the Roosters go wide, Canberra are stripped for numbers easily, Nawaqanitawase steps inside Timoko and goes over for his third try of the night. Great return from injury for the dual international. Walker can't convert but at 26-0 it's not like it matters. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:14pm 46' More Mark magic Nawaqanitwase puts Toia away down the sideline from deep in his own half with a great flick pass, next play Walker goes for a cross kick but Savage manages to tap it dead. But Canberra hang on, Timoko shuts down Cherry-Evans on the last tackle. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:10pm 43' Roosters survive again Tedesco loses a Sanders bomb, it hits his leg and Savage picks it up. Canberra on the attack. Sanders kicks it on the last, Robson traps it and manages to dive on the ball. Roosters hang on. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:09pm Second half is underway in Canberra Roosters kick us off and we're away for the second half. If Canberra don't get one early this could get very ugly. Key Event Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:00pm Match report: Storm hang on to down Knights in shoot-out Melbourne's mid-season resurgence has continued with the Storm taking another big scalp in as many weeks with a thrilling 32-30 victory over Newcastle. In an action-packed Friday night match at AAMI Park, superstar halfback Jahrome Hughes piloted his team to the win to continue their climb back up the competition ladder after last round's win over the Sydney Roosters. The Storm haven't lost to the Knights in Melbourne since 2015 but with the visitors arriving on the back of a four-game winning streak they had to fight hard to maintain that dominance. Queensland backrower Trent Loiero secured the win when he planted the ball across the line after running on to a Harry Grant pass out of dummy half, with the 70th minute conversion giving the Storm an eight-point buffer. That was the biggest margin of the night but it only lasted two minutes when the Knights regathered the ball off a short restart and Jacob Saifiti ran on to a Kalyn Ponga grubber to peg it back to two points with seven minutes to play. The Storm showed their desperation in defence and held on to win a classic that featured 11 tries, with six scored by the home side. Melbourne playmaker Cameon Munster was also heavily involved, setting up a try for Moses Leo, while he also had a running battle with his Queensland teammate Ponga as well as a scuffle with former Maroon Dane Gagai. There was early drama with Phoenix Crossland taken from the field on a medicab five minutes in after colliding with Storm centre Joe Chan. The Newcastle hooker had feeling in his limbs but was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. Melbourne then opened the scoring through Stefano Utoikamanu, bagging his first try of the season in another barn-storming performance. The Storm looked to have added a second but a flying Ponga dislodged the ball from Will Warbrick's arms with the winger claiming a shoulder charge. It was dismissed by Ashley Klein, who sent Ponga from the field in Origin I for the same offence. Warbrick did manage to score in the 38th minute which put Melbourne up 14-12 at halftime. A Gagai break in the first minute of the second half allowed Dylan Brown to touch down to take the lead for Newcastle and then Dylan Lucas was denied another soon after, ruled a double movement. Hughes, who set up Warbrick's try with a long, floating pass, then got across the line himself, taking advantage of a loose Ponga pass with the halfback scooting through traffic. The Maroons No.1 looked to have injured his shoulder trying to stop Hughes but played out the match. The teams continued to go toe-to-to with Gagai again having a hand in another Knights try, scored by Jermaine McEwen to close the gap in the 60th minute before Loiero's late effort. AAP Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:55pm Storm hit with massive injury blow as Coates ruled out for season — with AAP Melbourne's slender hopes of making the NRL finals have been dealt a major blow with star winger Xavier Coates ruled out for the season after snapping his Achilles. Coates was on the comeback trail after injuring his Achilles in the pre-season, requiring surgery that put him out for three months. With State of Origin off the table, the Storm set a target of round 10 for his return but that was pushed back with the Queensland representative flyer's recovery slower than expected. Coates had resumed running and looking to integrate with the main squad in the next week when the 25-year-old suffered the crushing injury on Friday at training. "I was running and it just popped," a shattered Coates told AAP. "I was only running at about 50 per cent and it just went." Coates attended the Storm's match at AAMI Park against Newcastle on Friday night and was wearing a moon-boot on his left leg and using a scooter to get around. He is set to undergo another round of surgery after consulting a specialist. Melbourne have missed the aerial threat of Coates and his try-scoring prowess, bagging 20 tries in 22 matches last season. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:53pm Halftime: Roosters 22 lead Raiders 0 Sanders makes a strong tackle on Wong and the latter loses the ball as he looks to play it. Canberra hang on but they have it all to do at halftime. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:50pm 38' Raiders can't fire a shot Watson loses the ball off the kick off and Canberra have a chance to stem the bleeding. They haven't managed to complete any of their sets in the attacking 20 thus far. But they don't really challenge the Rooster line, it's all set up plays and it goes to Tapine on the last and that ends about as well as you'd expect. Three tackles later they ping Timoko for a strip. Roosters have a chance at more points. Key Event Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:47pm 36' DCE and Walker get Roosters another Cherry-Evans catches Stuart out and nails an easy 40/20. The Roosters have a chance at another one and after Walker throws a big dummy and offloads to Robson they have it. Easy stuff, training drill stuff. The Tricolours are well on top and once Walker converts it's 22-0. Key Event Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:44pm 34' Rooster stunner gives them another Canberra spread it and there's a bit of space but Stuart gets barrelled over the sideline. Roosters on the attack. An attempted strip from Strange gives them a fresh set. They're looking very ominous. Walker puts a kick in, it seems to have Toia beaten to the deadball line but the Queensland centre throws it back inside for Nawaqnitawase to score his second try of the night. It's a circus act in Canberra and once Walker converts it's 16-0 and the Roosters are well in control. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:37pm Injry update: Savelio Tamale The Raiders winger has failed his HIA and he's done for the night. Key Event Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:35pm 26' Roosters go all the way A set restart on the last gives Canberra good field position but Young drops the ball a tackle later, the Roosters go wide, Smith brushes past Savage, finds Savala inside and he fends off Savage and Horsburgh to score a length of the field try. Defence into attack from the Roosters and once Walker converts it's 10-0 Tricolours. Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:30pm 21' Radley denied a crazy try Weekes cuts through down the right, he takes on Tedesco and drops a pass out the back to nobody and Crichton dives on it. Roosters ball. Two tackles later Cherry-Evans kicks it deep on the second, Weekes is gassed from the break, Stuart is out of position and Radley runs past them both to score! But wait! The Bunker has caught him offside. A very lucky escape for Canberra.