Stenchion suffers third hand injury of the year

Oldham prop Luke Stenchion has broken a bone in his left for the third time this season.

Stenchion, 26, suffered the injury in Sunday’s win over Workington, where he was sin-binned following a fight with Brett Phillips, in an incident that saw Oldham’s Jamie Action and Town’s Elliott Miller sent off.

He first fractured a bone close to his left thumb during a pre-season game against Whitehaven, before a bizarre incident in the warm-up ahead of a game against North Wales Crusaders on May 6th ruled him out again.

The former Batley man then spent the next three months on the sidelines, undergoing an operation, before starting his comeback on August 5th, and the Workington game was only his fifth appearance of the year.

Stenchion said: “I didn’t realise there was anything wrong with my hand until long after the game was over. I haven’t a clue how or when I did it, but I can’t believe my bad luck this year.

“If it’s any consolation they were three separate and totally unrelated injuries so it’s down to sheer bad luck rather than a weakness in the hand.

“The specialist doesn’t think I need surgery this time, but the hand will be in plaster for four to six weeks.

“Good luck to the team for the rest of the season and roll on 2013. I hope it’s a better year for me than this one.”

It means Stenchion will miss the Roughyeds season run-in, as they look to push for a play-off place, boosted by their win over the high-flying Cumbrians last season.

He joins Mark Brocklehurst (hamstring), Mark McCully (collar bone), Chris Murphy (dead leg) and Valu Bentley (calf) on the treatment table, with those four set to be assessed ahead of Oldham’s next game against Gateshead on Sunday week.