The one real downside for Barrow Raiders after their 100% start to the season has been the non-appearance of star signing Jarrod Sammut.
Sammut sustained an ankle injury following the Raiders’ 34-22 pre-season victory against Newcastle Thunder last month.
Head coach Paul Crarey named the 34-year-old Maltese international in the 21-man squad for the opening fixture of the Championship season against Sheffield Eagles but it was considered he was not recovered and was replaced by Jake Carter.
As a result Sammut, who has previously played for Bradford, Wakefield, Workington Town, London Broncos, Wigan and Leigh, has not featured in the two subsequent games.
But today Barrow physio Sean Riley indicated that Sammut is making steady progress with his injury but admits that he may not feature in this weekend’s trip to Bradford.
Riley told the club website: “Jarrod is getting there but I’m not promising nothing for this week’s fixture against Bradford.
“He’s not really trained since he went over on his ankle, but unfortunately with it being weak, he went over on it again, so it’s a double whammy with ankle ligaments.
“We’ll get him out testing the ankle before the game on Sunday. If he comes through alright, there’s a possibility that he might feature for this weekend; although I’ve looked at another couple of weeks of further planned treatment with him.
“We will treat him systematically and if he’s good, then we will see where he is at.”
Riley is confident that fans could see the return of both Shane Toal and Tom Hopkins very soon, especially after the Raiders picked up several head injuries in their clash last Sunday against Newcastle Thunder:
“Shane is alright, he had injured his medial knee ligament in the last friendly against Newcastle Thunder last month.
“He has responded well to treatment, and it’s the same with Tom. Their dedication to rehab, what they do in their own time and their willingness to get back is fantastic.
“Both Tom and Shane are ahead of schedule, and we’re looking at getting them back next week in the Challenge Cup against Rochdale]but I think we might get away with this weekend, especially as we have picked up a couple of head injuries on Sunday that will be ruling those players out due to concussion.
“I am really pleased with how both of them have done, and maybe we will see them back again this weekend.”
