Adrian Lam has revealed that Leigh Leopards star Bailey Hodgson’s career could be over, should the worst-case scenario happen regarding his elbow injury.
Hodgson has missed the Leopards’ last two games after an injury picked up at Magic Weekend. What was initially a common injury turned very serious about it got infected.
As a result, the full-back has spend around 10 days in hospital, and has had two operations as the doctors try and get the bottom of the issue.
“It does not look good,” Lam said to the press this week. “That might be long-term, potentially season-ending for him, because he has had a little bit of the bone taken away.
“We are hearing and we are getting some information coming now, so we will know a little bit more about that, but that is just another one of the stories for this season.”
Asked to explain further what the issue actually was, Lam revealed. “He has had some history with it [elbow issues] in the past, I think at Newcastle [Knights], and he has had a plate put in there with some screws.
“During one of our games about three weeks ago, he got a cut through there and got infected, and he got ill from it, so it was one of those really dangerous ones and a potential career-ending injury was the feedback from medical if it was a little bit of poisoning on the bone and everything else that comes along with the infection.
“He has only just come out [of hospital] yesterday, and we are getting some information today as we go… but it doesn’t look good.”
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Asked how the speedster is doing mentally, Lam explained: ” He’s struggling a little bit just because he’s had bad luck through the last two years here.
“He’s coming back from a PCL injury, and he was playing some great rugby as well. He’s been a big part of how we’ve grown as a team over the last 12 months, especially when he replaced Davy Armstrong.
“What a great job he did there to get us from 80 minutes away from Old Trafford last year. He played a massive part in that.
“…They’ve taken out a lot of bone from the elbow, but it’s not going to stop him from how it operates on the joint, so that’s lucky.
“I think the doctor did say that it could have been and it still could potentially be the end for him, but we’ll see how that goes. It looks positive at the moment, but they’re talking long term, they’re talking 16 weeks plus for that to heal with the bone.”
