AS Oldham’s Declan Kay continues to work through the RFL’s concussion protocol, Hunslet’s Nathan Chappell has received a two-match sanction by the Match Review Panel for what was described as a grade B dangerous throw in the match at the South Leeds Stadium on Sunday, September 8.
Roughyeds won 34-20, to cement a second-place finish in Betfred League 1 2019, despite the loss of right-wing Kay in the 17th minute after he was injured in a strong tackle and driven backwards while carrying the ball out of defence.
Referee John McMullen placed the incident on report and play was resumed with a Hunslet scrum after a knock-on ruling against Kay, who needed attention and checks on the field before being led off for a head test, never to return.
“He’s back now doing a little bit of very light cycling and we’re hoping that by Monday or Tuesday of next week he’ll have finished his protocol and passed a head test so that he will be available for the play-off game against Newcastle or Doncaster,”
said Roughyeds coach Scott Naylor.
He confirmed that, apart from a few niggles and bruises which were not of serious concern, his squad was in good shape and he hoped to have a full roster available for the play off tie at the Vestacare Stadium next Sunday, September 22.
This is a shared gate, all-pay game which will kick-off at 2pm for purposes of streaming on the OuRLeague app.
Added Naylor:
“As we wait for the play-off tie next week it’s all about squad maintenance. The lads with niggles are not doing certain things in training, but they can do most things and we hope that by next week we’ll have a fully-fit squad from which to select the side.
“It helps having numbers because you can then do specific things and drills which you can’t do if you’ve a few players in the medical room.”
Naylor has no preference of opposition (not that he would say even if he had).
He added:
“They will both be tough to beat. Both have good players and good coaches with good half-backs, dangerous finishers on the outside and forwards that are both explosive and experienced.
“It’s going to be tough, but so it should be. It’s a league play-off. If you want to win things and earn promotions you’ve got to be prepared to take on tough opponents.
“Having said that, they’ll both regard us as tough opponents too.“We are playing good rugby and as a group we have a belief in what we are doing and how we are playing.”
In the league, Roughyeds completed home-and-away doubles against the bottom five and took two points off each of the top five, producing 30 points out of a maximum 40.
Champions Whitehaven finished with 32. Both had 15 wins, but the Cumbrians edged automatic promotion because they had two draws.
