Dubbo Macquarie will take a massive gamble in its biggest match of the season on Saturday with Chris Daley, a man still awaiting knee surgery and someone who hasn’t played since May, set to line up at fullback.
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Raiders coach Steve McLellan admitted his side is taking a punt in the lead up to the minor semi-final against the Forbes Magpies and stated he will have protect Daley’s knee during the match but added it is a necessary risk with Josh Merritt suspended and Damien Wells and Dylan Hill both out.
“We’ve strapped him (Daley) up and he’s trained and is going to be a boost and it shows what it means to him and how he wants to help the team,” McLellan said.
“It’s a gamble but he’s had months of healing while waiting for surgery and it’s strapped up and we’ve got some strategies in place so he’s not too exposed in tackles and thing like that.”
Daley last played for the Raiders on May 22, but didn't last the match after twisting his knee awkwardly when trying to step around an opponent.
Scans revealed damage to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and while still on the waiting list for surgery, Daley has selflessly backed himself to be fit enough to help his side in the Raiders’ biggest match of the season.
It is a welcome return for the men in blue, who also look set to be without Rowan Orcher and Timoci Yauvoli again against Forbes
Having Merritt, Wells and Hill out leaves a massive hole in the Raiders outfit and McLellan admitted he felt for his star five-eighth, who has been handed a seven-week suspension following last weekend’s heated clash between Macquarie and Nyngan.
“He’s a massive loss and not the kind of player you can replace but we’re confident in our first grade side,” McLellan said in relation to Merritt.
“He’s kicked nine 40/20s in the past three weeks. I was talking to our president (Mark Meredith) and he said we’ve got good grounds for an appeal and I think we owe it to the kid.
“He’s had a bit of a record over the years but he’s really turned it around and I’m devastated for him.”
McLellan felt an equal amount of pain for Wells and Hill, but particularly the latter, who appears set to retire following another severe knee injury.
Powerful prop Hill went down after another knee injury at Nyngan last week and scans revealed he had torn both his ACL and medial cruciate ligament and injured his posterior cruciate ligament, meaning he will need yet another knee reconstruction.
“He’s snapped everything you’ve got in your knee so that’s a real blow,” McLellan said, before speaking about Wells’ concussion and neck injury suffered last week.
“He requires some scans. He came out of it quite sick and he couldn’t lift his head off the ground so he’s in for scans and we’re awaiting that and are not going to rush him.”
Kick off is at 3pm.