The Sydney Roosters are sweating on the fitness of 20-year-old sensation Jake Mercer after the prodigious back-rower failed to complete training on Wednesday, raising alarm bells just 48 hours before their crucial top-four clash with the Penrith Panthers.
Sources inside the Roosters’ training camp at Kippax Lake have told The Daily Roost that Mercer pulled up sore in the left hamstring during a routine field session Wednesday morning and was immediately escorted off the oval by head trainer Brent Molloy — a sight that sent shockwaves through the club’s football department.
The worrying development comes off the back of Mercer’s stunning breakout season — 11 games, seven tries, and an average of 162 run metres per match — which has thrust him into early Dally M Medal calculations and made him the hottest young property in the competition.
“He felt a little tightness. We’re not panicking yet, but we’ll know a lot more after the scans come back tomorrow morning.”
— Trent Robinson, Sydney Roosters head coach
But not everyone is willing to wait calmly for the scan results. Several rugby league analysts pointed out on Wednesday that the signs were there as far back as Round 7, when Mercer was spotted being heavily strapped on the thigh before the Roosters’ narrow win over the Rabbitohs — a detail that went largely unreported at the time.
“I flagged this two weeks ago,” veteran Fox League commentator Braith Anasta wrote on X. “The kid was carrying it. Did no one else see the tape?”
The Roosters’ injury list has become an unwelcome subplot to what was shaping as a premiership charge. Alongside Mercer’s scare, veteran prop Corey May (syndesmosis) is at least four weeks away, and strike winger Ash Reardon only returned from a shoulder reconstruction last month.
If Mercer is ruled out for Friday night, coach Trent Robinson is expected to slide Luca Favre into the edge back-row — a serviceable replacement, but a far cry from the explosive package the Roosters have become accustomed to unleashing against tired defenders late in the set.
Jake Mercer · 2026 season at a glance
11
Games
7
Tries
162
Avg run m
38
Tackles made
Penrith, meanwhile, will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a depleted Roosters pack. The Panthers have conceded the fewest metres on the right edge all season and will be well aware that Favre offers far less of a threat in those areas than his young counterpart.
Mercer’s management declined to comment when contacted Wednesday afternoon. Scan results are expected Thursday morning, with the Roosters’ official team list due by 4pm AEDT.
