Melbourne Storm star Xavier Coates narrowly escapes another serious setback

Melbourne Storm winger Xavier Coates has escaped any serious injury despite leaving training on-board a medical cab on Thursday.

Coates suffered a slightly sprained ankle but is expected to feature in the Storm’s round 1 clash against Parramatta.

A Storm spokesperson said Coates was only taken in a medical cab due to the distance between the field and the club’s medical room.

But Storm will continue to take a cautious approach with Coates given his long history of injury setbacks.

Coates, 23, is likely to miss the Storm’s upcoming trial matches as a safety measure but is expected to play in round 1.

The Storm travels to New Zealand for their first trial game against the Warriors before hosting the North Queensland Cowboys in another match at second home Casey Fields.

A trimmed-down Cameron Munster is set to feature in the trials after off-season hip surgery, having also dropped four kilos after consulting with NRL great Anthony Minichello and improving some of his off-field habits.

“I had a one-hour Zoom with him just about diet and what obstacles he had to endure when he had his back surgery and his problems. I’m trying to do something different for myself, and hopefully it pays dividends this year,” Munster said, having been directed to the Roosters and Blues great by Storm’s head of performance Lachlan Penfold.

“Lachie questioned my diet. I felt like at times, in games, I was not eating the right food on the game day … I wouldn’t eat certain meals and I probably wasn’t energised enough on game day,” Munster said.

“I just wanted to make sure I did everything right prep-wise during the week that I knew when it comes to game day, I didn’t have to worry about weighing in or worrying about my weight.

“He (Penfold) asked me to reach out to guys like Anthony, and just to listen to their story, and it just made me want to be better.

“We chatted about diet and the obstacles he had to endure when he had his back surgery, just tried something different and hopefully it pays dividends for the team this year.

“I’m pretty fit at the moment, I could be a little bit fitter, but I’m pretty excited to see how the next three weeks go and hopefully see how I go at trials as well.”