Warrington's Adrian Morley could miss the rest of the season

[josie andrews]

Warrington have admitted for the first time that their captain, Adrian Morley, may not play again this season as he continues to struggle with the after-effects of a heavy collision in their victory over St Helens in late June.

The 34-year-old England prop has been advised to take a break from training and the Wolves coach, Tony Smith, said: "We'd be hopeful that he'd be back before the end of the season but there's a chance he may not. The bottom line is he's got to be symptom-free before he can play again and he's still got some symptoms. He's going to have a little break from training and we hope that will help."

Smith has described the problem as damage to the muscles around Morley's eye, which has affected his vision.

If he is ruled out for the rest of the year it would be a major blow to both club and country. Another of Warrington's international forwards, the second-row Ben Westwood, has conceded that the knee ligament injury he sustained in last Sunday's thrashing of his former club Wakefield could rule him out for the rest of the season, although he has set himself the target of recovering in time for the Super League Grand Final on 8 October – should Warrington qualify.

Westwood may therefore be available to the England coach, Steve McNamara, for the Four Nations series that follows. But McNamara seems likely to be without both his Sydney-based forwards of undoubted international class, after strong hints from Wests Tigers that Gareth Ellis will require groin surgery at the end of the season. Sam Burgess is still recovering from an ankle operation, although his elder brother Luke has emerged as a potential replacement with some impressive performances after leaving Leeds to join him at South Sydney.

Warrington will have their veteran playmaker Lee Briers back after injury for Saturday's game against the Catalan Dragons in Perpignan, and Smith has also recalled Lee Mitchell from a loan spell at Harlequins to travel to France.

Wigan, who are one point ahead of Warrington in the Super League table with three matches to play – including a trip to the Wolves the week after they appear in the Challenge Cup final – have rested three players from Friday night's home game against Bradford to ensure their fitness for Wembley. Andy Coley, Brett Finch and Lee Mossop are given a breather, allowing the Oldham-born Ireland prop Eamon O'Carroll to make his first appearance for more than a year after battling back from a career-threatening sternum injury.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/au ... iss-season

[josie andrews]

Warrington Wolves head coach Tony Smith has admitted the club may miss Ben Westwood for the rest of the Super League season.
The 30-year-old sustained a knee injury during the victory over the Wakefield Wildcats, which has later been revealed to be medial ligament damage.

Westwood is now likely to spend up to eight weeks on the sidelines and will miss Warrington's journey into the play-offs, as they look to back up their success in the Challenge Cup over the past two years with a Super League title.

Smith was disappointed to lose the second rower and believes he is unlikely to feature for the Wire again this season.

He said: "There's a possibility he (Westwood) could be gone for the season.

"His diagnosis is six to eight weeks so it depends on how long we go and how quick he is.

"It's not great news for him but it could have been worse. It could have been a re-construction."

http://www.eatsleepsport.com/rugby-leag ... 3397.html?

[josie andrews]

Wolves Injury Update

Warrington Wolves secured a 66-12 win over Wakefield on Sunday but saw four players pick up injuries.
Following their assessments:

Ben Westwood suffered knee ligament damage and is expected to be out for between 6 and 8 weeks
Brett Hodgson picked up a quad strain keeping him out for between 3 and 4 weeks
It is anticipated that Simon Grix's groin injury will only keep him out for a week or two
Rhys Evans sustained a broken bone in his foot and is expected to miss the remainder of the season

The Wolves squad for this coming weekend against Catalan will be announced at 2pm tomorrow. Keep an eye out on warringtonwolves.com

http://www.warringtonwolves.org/wolves- ... pdate-4595

[exile in Tiger country]

At least they won't have as many penalties awarded against them with Westwood off the pitch.

[Kittwazzer]

No doubt all these injuries will ultimately lead to Wigan's door, what with their dirty cheating tactics. Just a matter of time!

[the winky one]

They will all make a dramatic recovery for the crunch game against Wigan in a few weeks time.

Yes they'll have taken advice from the specialists on quick recovery.... the one and only..St Helens :sly:

[OJ]

Wolves Injury Update

Brett Hodgson picked up a quad strain keeping him out for between 3 and 4 weeks
It is anticipated that Simon Grix's groin injury will only keep him out for a week or two

Same old script, same old B/S although Brett might prefer to not get run ragged again like he did last time we played them