Leeds star Luke Gale to miss start of season

Drew Darbyshire

Leeds half-back Luke Gale is set to miss the start of the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle.

The Rhinos started pre-season training at the start of this week and coach Richard Agar has confirmed that Gale has torn a pectoral muscle while training.

Gale is expected to be out for three months, so he is likely to miss a couple of early rounds of the 2021 Super League season which starts on March 11.

Agar said: “The injury is a three-month injury. Once we get the operation done which is early next week, there is a possibility that nine or 10 weeks is the target date.

“It is unlikely that he is going to make the start of the season but he won’t be too far off.

“It is (frustrating) for Luke. He has just had a really enjoyable year where he got to lift the Challenge Cup for us. He was buzzing about coming in this year and to cop something like that so early is disappointing and frustrating but it is the sport we play and every now and then we get instances like this.

“We know the timeframe is around three months and if we are good enough to shave a week or two off that then he is not going to miss too much football for us.”

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