Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam is planning to have Aaron Pene back available in around four to six weeks.
Pene has hardly played for the Leopards this season with injury restricting him to just five appearances in all competitions. Two of those outings came in the early stages of the Challenge Cup, with the front-rower scoring a try in each game.
However, he has managed to make just three outings in Super League, with his last appearance coming off the bench on April 19 when Leigh took on and beat Warrington Wolves. That outing was almost three months ago, with Pene missing a huge chunk of the season as Leigh push to secure a spot in the top four.
The Leopards have just 10 games left to play and having seen off Wigan Warriors last week, they’ll fancy their chances of claiming another upset this week against Hull KR to really underline themselves as challengers. And, as the business end of the season approaches, the hope is that Lam will be able to call on Pene before too long, with the Leigh boss explaining just where he is at with his recovery.
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“Aaron is just starting to get moving,” Lam said last week. “He’s had a bulging disc in his lower back which has caused nerve damage and pain and its been quite horrible for him really, to be honest with you. We’ve missed him but it is what it is, he’s part of the injured list.
“The positive news about Aaron is that he’s up and moving this week. It’s probably a timeframe of around four to six weeks where he’ll get back to the load that he needs to get back into it. The pain is slowing so that’s helpful and there’s some positive signs ahead for him so we’re working hard on him in that area.”
Leigh will be monitoring Pene’s progress closely, alongside the likes of Darnell McIntosh and Robbie Mulhern who will be looking at similar return dates. However, David Armstrong is looking at a nine-month lay-off due to the knee injury he picked up at Leeds Rhinos last month.
