Newcastle Knights forward Pauli Pauli has been hospitalised with a dislocated hip following a multi-car crash north of Sydney. The 22-year-old was the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the accident at Cowan on Wednesday night.
Police confirmed that seven adults and two children were injured in the crash. Pauli's three passengers were hurt, including a 27-year-old woman with a broken leg, an 18-year-old man with suspected spinal injuries, and a 15-year-old with a broken collarbone. Four other adults, aged between 47 and 66, were also taken to hospital, while a 63-year-old woman escaped injury and a 13-year-old girl was treated for bruising.
Pauli remains in Gosford Hospital in a stable condition. Knights coach Nathan Brown expressed concern for the player's welfare but declined to comment on whether the injury would affect his availability for the season opener against the Warriors on 5 March. 'A dislocated hip's not great for him, so I'm sure he's a little bruised,' Brown said. 'But I'm sure he'll be fine and his welfare's obviously important to us.'
The incident comes as another setback for the Knights, who earlier this week saw veteran Jarrod Mullen provisionally suspended after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
