PANTHERS DEVASTATED FOR INJURED PROP WILL
Halifax Panthers’ head coach Liam Finn has said the club is “devastated” for Will Calcott after the star prop forward suffered a knee injury in the Challenge Cup win over Hammersmith Hills Hoists.
Calcott was stretchered off just before the hour mark during Fax’s 50-4 fourth round victory and had an operation on Monday.
Finn revealed: “It is pretty significant.
"We don’t know timescales at this point but it’s not going to be short-term, put it that way. It’s a nasty knee injury.
“He is going to be a massive miss. "He has turned into one of the top props in the Championship over the last 12-18 months and he was just coming into his prime as a prop forward.
“We are devastated for him and he is a massive loss for us as a team too.”
Finn also confirmed that Ben Crooks suffered “significant” ankle ligament damage in the win, which has now set up a fifth round tie with National Conference League Premier Division side York Acorn.
“They will be a challenge,” Finn said. “They have had a couple of good wins in the competition, going down to Cornwall and winning and then beating Wath Brow, so it will be a step up.
“It is the week before the Championship season so it will be a good prep for us before the league.”
He added: “York Acorn are going to want to put on a good performance and they have earnt the right to get to this round.
“We are expecting the best version of York Acorn on that day and we need to make sure that we are prepared properly.”
On getting past the Hoists, Finn said: “It was tough conditions but we managed them pretty well.
"It was a bit of a no-win type game, but, barring the one freak error that led to us conceding a try, everybody stuck to it pretty well.
“They (Hammersmith Hills Hoists) did themselves proud. They kept going right until the end.
"They were a pretty fit bunch making last-ditch tackles all the time and kept the score down a fair bit.
“Full credit to them, I thought that they were really good on the day.”