Halliwell out of key matches

Danny Halliwell: Hit by two-game suspension.

DANNY HALLIWELL picked up a two-match ban last night, ruling him out of the crucial matches against promotion contenders Keighley and Dewsbury.

The centre was also fined £50 by the RFL disciplinary panel after being found guilty of repeated punching, a Grade C offence, against Workington Town in a game at Derwent Park two weeks ago. Halliwell was sent off after the incident.

The other charge he was faced with, a reckless grapple tackle at Grade C, was dropped.
While the suspension could have been heavier — he was looking at a maximum of eight matches for the combined offences — the verdict reached still doesn’t help Roughyeds coach Tony Benson ahead of the Cougars clash at Boundary Park on Sunday, with nine players sidelined at training yesterday.

Marcus St Hilaire (Achilles and calf), Paul O’Connor (ankle), Jamie I’Anson (forearm), Paul Highton (knee), Luke Menzies (ankle), Phil Joseph (groin), Gary Sykes (shoulder) and Neil Roden (shoulder) didn’t take part in the session and James Coyle was forced out midway through with a tight hamstring.

At this stage, only Menzies is definitely out of contention for the weekend, while the other players are suffering from varying degrees of injury and their progress will be checked further tomorrow.

On the plus side, Lucas Onyango trained as normal despite picking up a painful elbow injury in the Northern Rail Nines.

“The Keighley game would be a challenge for us anyway, but this only adds to it,” said Benson, building up to a match against a side currently second in Co-operative Championship One.

“We have to roll up our sleeves and get on with it. The players did just that in a good session last night and we will aim to carry on in that vein on Thursday.”


SALFORD forward Rob Parker is unlikely to play again this year because of his fractured skull. The former Bradford and Warrington second rower sustained five skull fractures in a collision with the elbow of team–mate Jordan Turner during the Reds' Super League defeat at Wigan last month.

Said coach Shaun McRae: "He's allowed to start light training but I doubt if he'll play again this year. We've obviously put him in cotton wool. It was a nasty injury, a bit like being in a car crash."