London Broncos hit with third major injury ahead of Super League return

05 February 2024 , 18:19

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London Broncos boss Mike Eccles (Image: Alan Stanford / PRiME Media Images)

London’s Super League plans have been rocked by a THIRD major injury blow in quick succession.

Newly-promoted Broncos make their top-flight comeback at World Club champions St Helens on Friday week. But full-back Josh Rourke broke his leg in last night's final friendly against Oldham. That’s a second major injury after young star hooker Bill Leyland was ruled out for the entire season after rupturing his ACL in another warm-up game. However, boss Mike Eccles, already with one of the thinnest squads in Super League, has revealed ex-Hull prop Lewis Bienek is also facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines.

He said: “I’m expecting Lewis to be out for some time. We’re just waiting on an MRI scan but he’s got an ankle/fibula injury. It’s a massive blow for us. He was great for us last season and has really been ripping into teams.

“That combination of him and Bill Leyland working together would have continued in Super League, too. I’m gutted they won’t get that now. Hopefully Lewis will be back soon but he’s going to be out for a while.”

Rourke had joined from Whitehaven and was looking to impress with fellow full-back Alex Walker also crocked for the Super League kick-off.

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Eccles added: “The reason we brought Josh in was to replace Alex for that first month of the season. But now we’re missing two full-backs. We haven’t got another so we’ll have to make one. Josh will be out for about three months so it is pretty tough at the minute.”

London Broncos' Lewis Bienek (SWpix)

London are unlikely to look at the transfer market so late in the day. Eccles said: “I’m not a huge fan of short-term loans. And in about 12 weeks’ time we could have two full-backs available. So we’ll probably sort something in-house and take it from there.”

Meanwhile, he wants Lee Kershaw to stay with the ex-Wakefield winger having impressed since joining on a trial last month. Eccles said: “Lee’s gone really well for us. We’re speaking to his agent at the moment and hopefully we can get a deal done. But we’ve got two other options if it doesn’t happen.”

Elsewhere, Daniel Hindmarsh-Takyi, the prop who played with London when they were last in Super League in 2019, has joined Castleford from Queensland Cup side Northern Pride.

David Craven