Broncos winger Kemp back in hospital

Brisbane winger Denan Kemp had to rush back to hospital on Monday after being told
his lung had collapsed as a result of a horror injury suffered against the Warriors
on Sunday afternoon.
Kemp sustained three broken ribs, one displaced rib and a collapsed lung after
copping an accidental knee from Warrior Jerome Ropati midway through Brisbane's
48-16 loss.
He was taken from Suncorp Stadium to hospital on Sunday for x-rays and kept
overnight for observation before being released on Monday morning.
"I had x-rays on Sunday and when I was released on Monday I was told to get some
scans to check my kidneys and liver," a groggy Kemp told AAP from his St Andrews'
hospital bed.
"I had a CT (CAT) scan and they said I should get myself to hospital straight away
because my lung had collapsed."
Kemp's initial prognosis of three to four weeks out has now been revised to 8-10
weeks but he's hoping to be back earlier if his ribs heal.
Kemp showed amazing toughness to keep playing and trying to make tackles, including
one on Warriors abrasive winger Manu Vatuvei before he slumped over the sideline.
"I was really struggling to breathe but I didn't want to come off, I knew Izzy
(Israel Folau) had gone off and I tried to stay on as long as I could," said the
82kg winger who earned coach Ivan Henjak's admiration with his courage.
"They've had to drain some air and re-inflate the lung, it's pretty painful but I am
drugged up so it's not too bad."
Kemp's latest injury has opened the door for young Redcliffe junior Mitch Rivett to
make his NRL debut off the bench.
Henjak, who is sweating on the fitness of a few of his players, most notably lock
Matt Gillett, named an 18-man squad to play the Roosters on Friday night, which
included two forwards - Ben Te'o and Alex Glenn - as his starting centres for
injured duo Justin Hodges and Israel Folau.
Rivett was named on an extended five man bench. Ashton Sims gets his first start
of the season in the second-row with youngster Gerard Beale moving out to the wing
to cover for Kemp.
With former Parramatta halfback Tim Smith taking an offer from Cronulla, scrum
prospect Ben Hunt has also won a spot on Henjak's bench.
"It's the situation we're in and we've had to come up with a team and I think it's a
pretty good team, Henjak said.
"I'm happy to be going into a game with those guys."
Henjak admitted his players need to "toughen up" after being shown up by the
physical Warriors.
"We had to make some changes at the weekend and we had two tries scored against us
when guys were down which didn't help our confidence," he said.
"But we need to be tougher than that, we need to overcome those hurdles."