Exactly that on the timing- and probably the right call too. While age is not on his side, I'd say he has a good fighting chance of being back for the quarter-final. As someone who suffered from achilles problems myself, I know they are a bugger to heal - they never really do without heavy physio and a lot of rest- or surgery and possibly less rest. But as a second rower, the acceleration required of, say outside backs, that stresses the moody blighters (tendons, not wingers ) is less of an issue. Leo's also a great man to manage an injury; played with one effective shoulder apparently for a lot of his career.Donny B. wrote:We'll need something from Sykes too, especially if Dev is in the Six Nations squad. Mark Flanagan will definitely see more action too during the Six Nations too.
Gutted for Leo though. He said in his book that he was having constant problems last season with his Achilles tightening up before and during games. It was just one of them though. Interesting that they're choosing to have the operations now though. They probably figured he wouldn't feature much or at all during the Six Nations, so they may as well do it now and hopefully have him back for the HC quarter-finals.
Could be the making of Toner and I'd say we'll know the worth of Sykes by the end of 2 months. Browne usually gives you his all- limited maybe but consistent in his skill set. It will be intriguing.