NORTH Ballarat Roosters’ skipper Michael Searl remains in doubt to play this week with a broken hand.
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The Selkirk Roosters are working to get Searl a consultation with a surgeon to determine the extent of the injury.
Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald said Searl sustained the break in a knock to a knuckle in his little finger during a marking contest in the team’s five-point win against Frankston on Sunday. Searl played out the game.
The Roosters will meet Bendigo in Swan Hill this week leading into a break in competition for the state game.
FitzGerald said the Roosters were hoping for the best – that Searl might play with a protective guard – but it was all a case of wait and see.
“Michael’s developing into a great leader and is forming his own image, different to that of Spider (Shaune Moloney) and Marc Greig and even John Polkinghorne – who was a great captain for a long time when I was first coaching the Roosters,” FitzGerald said.
“Michael’s learning how he wants to be a captain and he will be a massive loss if he misses any match.”
Searl spent time on the sidelines with a broken hand last season, missing three weeks from mid-May before returning to the field with a protective guard and breaking his thumb, an unrelated injury on the same hand, two games later.
