Bulldogs count injury cost

Canterbury’s premiership hopes have been dealt another blow with the news that Ben Hannant will miss between four and six weeks with a knee problem.

The Queensland Origin prop suffered a medial ligament strain during his side’s 24-14 win over New South Wales in Sydney on Wednesday – a triumph which gave them a historic fourth-straight series victory.

Hannant joins injured youngster Jamal Idris, who suffered a dislocated elbow against Penrith last Friday, on the sidelines.

“He’s a big loss, he’s our number one front rower and he showed last night what he can do, I thought he was outstanding for Queensland off the bench,” Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore told AAP.

“His injury’s probably a little bit worse because of his tough attitude and he played through it. We’ll miss that.

“The good news is it’s not a season-ending injury. We’ve just got to tough it out over the next 4-6 weeks and we’ll get Benny back around that time and he’ll be nice and fresh for the back end of the season.”

Hannant will be replaced by Jarrad Hickey for Friday’s clash with North Queensland who will be without another Origin player Luke O’Donnell who suffered a shoulder injury.