Roughyeds blow

Mervill: no more games this season

Mervill to go under the knife

RICHARD MERVILL is out for the season and beyond after it was revealed that he has torn a bicep off the bone.

A scan has revealed that the nasty injury, which the prop forward sustained in a home game against local rivals Hornets RL a month ago, requires an operation in which the muscle will be reattached using two metal fixings to anchor it.

Mervill (pictured right), in his third season with the club and a member of last season’s National League Two representative side, will end this campaign with 12 appearances under coach Tony Benson.

“Longer-term, if it wasn’t for this operation, the arm would lose up to 60-per-cent strength and 30-per-cent mobility,” explained Roughyeds chief executive Chris Hamilton. “It is a no-brainer, really.”

The 28-year-old is looking at a six-week recovery period following the surgery, which is due to take place on Saturday, September 12.

During that time the bicep will be held in place by a brace that must be worn constantly.

Mervill won’t be able to train during that period, after which there is a futher six-week rehabilitation period to overcome before he is back up to speed.

Though the player has been unavailable at various points in the season due to work commitments, the news comes as something of a blow to Benson in the build up to the final regular-season Co-operative Championship One match away at Hunslet Hawks on Sunday.

In terms of fit out-and-out prop forwards, the coach is now down to selecting from a pool of four: Jason Boults, Wayne Kerr, Jamie I’Anson and Luke Menzies.

Benson will make fitness checks on Lee Greenwood and Chris Baines at tonight’s training session before selecting a squad to travel to the South Leeds Stadium for what promises to be a tricky, tense encounter against Oldham’s play-off rivals.