Leigh win came at high price - Stokes

By Martin Morgan

Last updated 11:58, Tuesday, 06 May 2008

Whitehaven paid a high price for yesterday’s thrilling 28-16 win over Leigh with David Fatialofa, Leroy Joe and Carl Sice all suffered broken bones.

Driving force: Haven’s David Fatiolofa, pictured in action against Leigh on Monday, suffered a broken arm in the game

Loose-forward Joe and prop Fatialofa both broke arms while hooker Sice fractured a bone in his hand as a result of a finger dislocation. Sice and Joe should be out for four to six weeks, while the extent of Fatialofa’s injury is unknown until he sees a specialist on Thursday.

Coach Ged Stokes stressed today that all three would be missed – Joe was his personal man-of-the-match yesterday – but added: “We have to take the positives out of it.

“They will be back, there’s no doubt about it. It will then be like having new players in the team, and it will also give us a chance to explore what other players are capable of doing.”

All three played a major part in Haven’s fantastic comeback win yesterday in front of over 1,700 fans at the Recre.

“We had shown before we could play from the front, but we have never really had to ask the question and come from behind,” Stokes said.

“I said at half-time that if we scored the first points of the second-half, we would win the game. I was really pleased with the attitude of our players. It was a really hard, physical match and we controlled the ruck a lot better.

“We looked good across the board. I’m still not happy with the speed of our play-the-ball.

“We were put on our backs too often, but that’s a technique we’ll keep working on.”

Haven v Leigh Centurions match report – p61