Curse continues: ANZAC derby injury strikes Sellers once again

In his Bathurst Panthers debut in 2021 his game lasted just a few seconds when he knocked heads with a teammate while attempting a tackle on the opening hit up of the match.

Then the next time around Sellers clashed heads once again with the very same man he tried to tackle in the previous derby - Luke Single - and required nine stitches.

Now he's picked up a fractured eye socket following a head clash in Sunday's latest edition of the all-Bathurst game.

Sellers almost made a break down the right side of the field during the second half of the match but was brought to a stop by Jacob Anlezark.

The head-to-head collision that brought down Sellers ultimately saw Anlezark sent off.

Anlezark was the third send-off during a fiery Bathurst derby, where Panthers' Nick Tilburg and Saints' Aaron Mawhinney were given marching orders after they struck one another during a scuffle 10 minutes out from half-time.

St Pat's won the contest 36-24.

Thankfully for Sellers the diagnosis for the former Group 10 representative player isn't as terrible as he first feared.

"That's three from three now. It's just really bad luck," he said.

"I'm still waiting on a call to see if they want to operate but at this stage it's looking alright.

"It's fractured but it's still all in place."

Sellers said it was a completely unfortunate incident with no intent behind it from the opposing player.

"I went down the short side because we had a bit of an overlap but it didn't eventuate so I turned back inside," he said.

"[Anlezark] just came out of the one tackle and his head went straight into my cheek. It was just an unlucky head clash. I've gone down and he's come down on top but all the damage was done on the first hit.

"I've bounced back okay. I feel fine, and there's no ongoing headaches or anything like that."

Sellers won't be the only Panthers casualty to come from the derby.

Tilburg will serve a suspension for his send off while the judiciary will have their say on whether Josh Merritt will also be given time on the sidelines.

Merritt was sin binned for his involvement in the same incident.

That could leave the Panthers without both of their starting halves for a big game at home against Dubbo CYMS.

A fired up CYMS side will be making the trip to Bathurst after they too lost a derby clash in the opening round.

Panthers back rower Brady Cheshire also has one game to serve for a suspension he picked up in the team's season-opening win over the Lithgow Workies.

"We're definitely going to be short next week against Dubbo. They're the team to beat even though they lost that first game," Sellers said.

However, the Fishies might also be short staffed themselves for the Bathurst trip.

Claude Gordon fractured his jaw in the round one loss with Dubbo Macquarie while there's minor injury concerns for Ratu Roko and Alex Bonham.