Lachlan Walmsley 'possibly' out of Halifax Panthers’ double-header with Barrow Raiders as Simon Grix looks for first away league win of season

The Panthers take on the league’s bottom side, without a win during the first six rounds of fixtures, at Craven Park, this Sunday, kick off 3pm, before Barrow make the trip to West Yorkshire the weekend after for a fourth round Challenge Cup tie.

However, Walmsley, who has scored 11 tries in all competitions already this season, is set for a spell on the sidelines after dislocating his finger in the 34-10 victory over Keighley Cougars at The Shay - a game in which he bravely completed the full 80 minutes - and scored a second try in - despite the injury.

Grix said: “He had a long night at hospital on Sunday getting it checked out. He was then back in there on Monday morning to have corrective surgery on the wound.

“He has dislocated his finger and broken the skin. Over the next couple of weeks we just need to make sure it heals and staves off infection.

“Other than the ripped skin and the exposing of the joint, I think he has come away pretty good from it as it could have been a lot worse.

“It is a bit of a blow. You’re losing a bit of a try scorer but that’s the game. When you play a contact sport it is inevitable that these things will happen. Fortunately, we have got some handy players that are jumping at the bit.

“It’s unfortunate, but we will do everything we can to assist him in his recovery and hopefully he will come back sooner rather than later.

“The hospital says it will be four to eight weeks but that’s the conservative route. Realistically, a cut like that is going to take a couple of weeks to heal, so then it depends on what Lachlan is comfortable with.

“I can’t see it being within two weeks, so he will possibly be missing the two Barrow games and maybe more, we don’t know yet.”

The Panthers come into this weekend’s contest on the back of three consecutive victories, although they are still searching for their first win on their travels in the league this season.

On the prospect of facing Barrow, who suffered their fifth league defeat of the season against Batley Bulldogs on Monday evening, Grix said:

“It was a tough game (against Batley) and they’re in that tough spot at the moment where it’s not quite going right for them.

“It’s a good opportunity to get it (an away league win) every week but at some point Barrow are going to turn, so if we start thinking like that, and start to take them lightly, then we will get burnt.

“We will just treat them with the respect like everyone else gets and prepare the same. We will prepare the best we can and give it our best, so there’s no reason why we can’t go up there and do well but it’s not going to be easy.”