Cameron Smith says the Melbourne Storm club are doing their best to rally around youngster Jordan McLean, following the serious injury to Newcastle’s Alex McKinnon.
McLean will face an NRL judiciary hearing next Wednesday regarding the three-man tackle that fractured McKinnon’s neck – but he will travel with the Storm this weekend.
At first, he was stood down following the incident, but the NRL judiciary have granted the 22-year-old permission to feature, and Smith believes the youngster needs all the support he can get.
“Obviously everyone’s thoughts are with Alex,” Smith said.
“But there’s a guy that feels extremely sorry for what has happened. His name has been thrown into the tackle and the incident that happened.
“It was just an unfortunate, freakish incident which happened to Alex. And as I said on the night, we don’t want to see any injury happen to any of our peers in our game, particularly to the neck region.
“(McLean) is just doing his best to get his mind on the job this week. He’s only a young guy. You’ve got to remember that.”