Hopes high for Files return

ADAM Files scored 15 tries in 24 appearances for Oldham RL last season.

ADAM Files, a hit with Oldham RL fans on long-term loan from Salford last year, may be lined up for another season at Whitebank.

The talented young hooker scored 15 tries for Roughyeds in his first season of senior rugby — second only to dual-registered centre Jon Ford’s 21 — before returning to his Super League club.

Oldham coach Scott Naylor revealed today that Files has been training with Roughyeds for the last few sessions, and confirmed that the 21-year-old hooker will be in the Oldham squad at Barrow on Sunday for the first of three warm-up games.

“Adam will play at Barrow with a view to remaining with us for another full season,” said Naylor. “It will be great to see him in a Roughyeds’ jersey again, but there’s nothing more I can say right now about the overall situation with him.”

Files was a key member of the Oldham side that finished second in the league last season, finishing only two points behind promoted North Wales Crusaders.

A prolific try-scorer from dummy-half, he played in every game, running in 15 tries in 24 appearances and touching down at least once in eight consecutive matches.

Naylor is also hoping to bring in at least two more players. His squad for Barrow won’t be finalised until tomorrow, but Lewis Palfrey, prop Phil Joy and back-row man Josh Crowley are absent.

Half-back and goalkicker Palfrey has a slightly torn muscle and he won’t be risked on a pitch that is expected to be heavy and to cut up.

Player-of-the-year Joy is out with a long-standing groin problem and Crowley, one of only two ever-presents last season, misses out because of a long-standing family commitment.