Quote: The Yellow Giraffe "I'm no medical expert so I can't say Woolf is right or wrong when he says the injury can't be made worse. However I am confident they wouldn't put him at risk, so it's a case of having to take their word for it in terms of the moral side of things.
As for the rugby side of things, if Lomax can play to 80% of his potential he is still our best option (and better than most in the league) so again for the time being I'm happy to trust their judgement. 1 game isn't enough to judge, especially a game like last week. But if the time comes where he's a passenger or even a liability within the team, I'm sure the club would act accordingly. I think Dodd being injured probably forces their hand a bit, I'm not naive to pretend otherwise. If he was fit then it would be "easier" to let Lomax have surgery and recover in his own time. But being down 2 half backs would spell the end of our season so I can understand why they are keen for him to play on and why he himself is so keen to play on too.
To be honest I don't think Lomax is the issue for us now. It's what we do alongside him. It shows how we much we are lacking an obvious replacement for Dodd when you read the various opinions on who should replace him. Welsby, Davies, Bell, Hopoate, Roby, Lussick even Sironen all been mentioned. That's the biggest conundrum for Saints now, who plays alongside Lomax to get the best out of the team and give us the best shot of winning another GF.'"
Fair summary mate. I have nothing more than you to go on but I just have a feeling this will come back to bite you. I guess I'm being influenced by playing Harry Smith injured last season because we had no option here, but when you look at how it affected him, and by extension the team, compared to a fully fit one this year then the comparison is there to be made.
Lomax is a far more experienced player than Smith, of course, but there are elements where experience probably has no bearing. You mention an 80% Lomax still being up there with the best and I wouldn't disagree if we were discussing form alone. 80% because of injury, especially and arm injury for a halfback, is somewhat different. There are so many variables that come into play when it's an injury of this sort; wayward passes, needing to hide the player in defence, doubt and uncertainty both for the player himself and his teammates around him and, of course, the possibility that it will go during a game and the disruption that would cause, particularly if we're talking a crunch game like Saturdays semi or the playoffs.
I understand, perhaps, why the club are taking this option. I can't help thinking it's a mistake they'll come to regret.