Oldham waiting on Joy verdict

PHIL JOY . . . may need shoulder operation

PHIL Joy, anchor man of the Oldham front-row and the club's biggest forward, may need an operation on the shoulder he dislocated in the last home game against London Broncos.

The 25-year-old prop has been a fixture in the Roughyeds' engine room since Scott Naylor's arrival as boss in the autumn of 2012, having played in 103 of the club's 113 games since then, up to and including the Broncos game at Bower Fold on February 19.

His loss for any serious length of time would be a massive blow for the club, which has already felt a backlash from an injury pile-up at dual-registration partner club Huddersfield Giants, who have been unable to provide Roughyeds with players for the past two weeks.

Results of a scan on Joy's shoulder are back with the club's medical team.

Naylor said: "There are some issues with the injury, so Phil now has to see a specialist, who will tell him whether or not he needs surgery.

"We've all got our fingers crossed that it will be good news.

"If he needs an operation he will obviously be out for some time. If not, he will continue with his rehab and he could be back relatively soon.

"Everyone else is okay and training normally."

Danny Grimshaw, Adam Neal, Liam Thompson and Gareth Owen were in the wars at Hull KR, but the postponement of the Dewsbury game due to a waterlogged pitch won't have done any harm in terms of preparing a squad to face up to derby rivals Rochdale Hornets at the Crown Oil Arena (Spotland) on Sunday.

There are also indications that the injury crisis at Huddersfield may be easing.

Jermaine McGillvary and Ukuma Ta'al are back in Rick Stone's 19-man squad for the game at Leigh Centurions tomorrow, replacing youngsters Sam Wood and Mikey Wood, who have both had dual-reg games for Oldham this season.

The Giants' 19-man squad, in fact, includes only one player who has worn the Oldham jersey in Championship rugby this season - prop Tyler Dickinson.

Naylor went on: "They've had to contend with a horrendous injury list and we fully understand, obviously, that their own squad has to come first.

"We'll have to wait and see what happens this weekend."

*Hospitality packages are available for the Oldham v Haydock cup-tie at Bower Fold on Saturday, March 18 (1pm kick-off), which will be streamed live by the BBC and shown on the BBC Sport website. Cost is £25 a head, including main-stand seat. Ring 07904 898177 or email to: enquiries@roughyeds.co.uk