Last updated at 12:30, Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Whitehaven have told star centre Scott McAvoy he is free to return to the fold at any time following his decision to take a break from the game.

Scott McAvoy

McAvoy has not played since he suffered an injury in the win at South Wales last month, though it had been hoped he was closing in on a return to action.

Chief executive Barry Richardson said: “He wants to take a break for family reasons. There’s nothing wrong between him and the club, it’s just that he feels he needs to take some time out.

“Scott is getting married this summer, and with work and family commitments he can’t give 100 per cent commitment to the game at the moment.

“If he feels differently in a few weeks, the door is open for him. Obviously, we would like to see him back, but as a club we wish him the best for the future.

“I believe he has been the best centre in this league for some time, and he’ll be a big miss. But we have a good squad, and in his absence over recent weeks, Jessie Joe Parker and Max Wiper have performed excellently in the centres, and Stephen Fox also did a good job there before he got injured. We are pretty lucky to have such quality in that position.”

McAvoy was arguably the club’s top performer last year, when he was runaway winner of the News & Star Readers’ Haven Player-of-the-Year award. His growing stature was recognised pre-season when named joint team captain, and he continued his impressive form this term, scoring five tries in eight outings.

First published at 11:27, Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk