Langley facing lengthy lay-off

GARETH Langley will have an operation on his shoulder next Tuesday and is likely to be out of action for at least three months.

The former St Helens winger, whose contract with the club officially finishes at the end of November, will go under the knife to repair a tear in the shoulder muscle.

With the extent of the damage he has sustained not known until surgery is underway, it is not yet possible to put an exact timescale on when he will be back training and playing rugby again.

Langley’s uncertain future at Oldham was put in further doubt with the arrival of Halifax winger Lee Greenwood earlier this week, but for now club officials are simply concentrating on getting him back to fitness.

“It is something we will talk about further with Gareth,” said Roughyeds chief executive Chris Hamilton. “But for now, we will just get the operation done.”

The squad-building programme for 2009 is now all-but complete, with the addition of just one more first-team player a possibility.

The players have been attending training under coach Tony Benson and conditioner Martin Roden for a month and overall, Mr Hamilton is pleased with the way things have gone at the club since losing the play-off final to Doncaster in late September.

“We have worked hard to get this squad together and with the coaching team we have in place, we are as confident as we can be that the best can be brought out of the players,” he added.

“The players have trained really hard. It is the toughest pre-season they have done, but they have also said that they have really enjoyed it.

“It has been varied and interesting and not just flogging.”