Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has given an update on the injury sustained by Josh Charnley with an recovery timeline laid out.
Veteran winger Charnley was dubbed “50/50” before the match along with Robbie Mulhern and Edwin Ipape and whilst both forwards managed to see out the incredible 1-0 win, Charnley had to be removed from the action at half-time.
Charnley had taken to the field with a heavily strapped knee but couldn’t play beyond the break and Adrian Lam has now revealed the process that saw the winger selected as well as the injury details.
Asked if he regretted selecting Charnley, Lam told the media: “It was a call made at the last minute and I don’t ever regret playing a player when we do have it. We got a fair bit of feedback on it and we thought it was the right thing at the time.”
He also confirmed that whilst scans are yet to arrive, those at Leigh are predicting at least a month on the sidelines which would be a major blow for the Leopards.
Lam explained: “Josh has got some scans yesterday and we’ll get that information back hopefully any hour now so it looks like he may be out for four weeks plus from this point on and we’ll make some decisions based off the results from the scan.
“It looks like there may be some meniscus in there and a little bit of hamstring as well, so we’ve just got to, again like I said, just wait for the scan to come back this afternoon and then we can make some decisions moving forward.”
Leigh Leopards confirm lengthy Josh Charnley injury as Adrian Lam assesses options
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Whilst losing Charnley was a huge blow, the other “50/50” players pulled through and Lam was very impressed with their showings as he confirmed: “They both (Mulhern and Ipape) pulled through very, very good and I’m grateful that they both played as well. I thought they played really good games and both played big minutes as well.”
With fellow winger Darnell McIntosh still sidelined, Lam will have to go to his depth options or get creative to replace Josh Charnley and he assessed those options.
The Leigh Leopards boss explained: “There’s 12 new faces that have come into the group and they’ve all been training really, really well. So obviously Bailey Hodgson will come into consideration for Josh.
“There’s AJ Towse from York who’s probably been our best trainer player in pre-season so everyone’s nipping at the bit to have an opportunity and I’m excited and I’m happy about that because that’s what we need and that’s what we want.”
Continuing, he added: “It’s not good that Josh will be out for a couple of weeks but (it will be for) that player that we give the opportunity to, or if we push Tesi onto the wing and put a centre in there, so someone like (Andrew) Badrock, who’s also been training well, or Jack Hughes.
“We’ve got a tough decision to make there, but I love this part about coaching. I love giving the debuts to players or players an opportunity that have certainly earned it.”
There was also confirmation that both Darnell McIntosh and Ben Nakubuwai remain injured with further details given on the Fijian prop’s issues.
Lam revealed: “Darnell McIntosh is for a couple more weeks still and Ben Nakubuwai is out and that’s it so I think we’ll name a pretty near-life and full squad without Josh and Darnell in there.
“Ben’s had some knee injuries. I think there’s a bit of cartilage there and also slightly with his hamstring so that’s that’s been delayed. He’s probably got four to six weeks to go on the back of that. I think he’s also got a little bit of a pec tear as well.”
