WHEN Oldham kick-off their Betfred League 1 campaign at Whitehaven on February 18 they could be faced by Salford’s French forward Levy Nzoungou, who helped Roughyeds to beat Keighley Cougars 52-6 in their third and final pre-season warm up.
The giant 20-year-old, who was at Toulouse Olympique last year, played on dual-registration for Scott Naylor’s men at the Vestacare Stadium last week, but he has since signed for Whitehaven on a month’s loan.
The Cumbrians have also snapped up Barrow forward Matty While on a similar arrangement and coach Carl Forster plans to play them both this weekend against derby rivals Workington Town in the annual Ike Southward memorial match.
Forster said: “Levy is a big lad and a strong runner with a great offload. We’re looking forward to seeing him in a Whitehaven jersey this weekend.
“We’re also made up to bring Matty in. He will add size to our pack and help to provide the depth that we need.”
Town will also have a well-known first-timer on view in the shape of former Leeds and Great Britain forward Ryan Bailey, who has signed for the Derwent Park outfit from Toronto Wolfpack. He will link up with his ex-Toronto teammate Sean Penkywicz.
Roughyeds, meanwhile, are monitoring the progress of centre Matt Reid, two-try hero of the Law Cup win at Rochdale, who has suffered a nasty injury to a finger in training. It kept him out of the two latest pre-season games against Barrow and Keighley.
Said coach Naylor: “He has a deep wound. He’s had the stitches out, but it’s not healing very well so he might have to see a plastic surgeon. It’s too early to say whether we’ll have him back for the opening league game.”
Ben Davies may need a scan on a troublesome back, but Adam Jones is expected back next week after going down with flu, while Gateth Owen (foot), Kenny Hughes (finger) and Liam Bent (elbow) are all said to be progressing nicely.
