How Leigh Leopards will replace Josh Charnley with key selection calls to be made

Josh Charnley has been given the all-clear after his scary injury in Leigh Leopards' play-off triumph over Salford Red Devils. The winger was stretchered from the field after a neck injury in the contest and was taken to hospital after needing extensive treatment.

Thankfully, Charnley was cleared of any major injury, with the speedster, who surpassed Danny McGuire's try-scoring tally in the contest, confirming he was OK.

Posting on Instagram, Charnley said. “Thanks for all your messages. I’m on my way home from having the all call-clearlear. Staff at Salford Royal were class. Thanks to my medical team for looking after me. Great win.”

While the news is undoubtedly of great relief, the injury will see Charnley automatically stood down for Leigh's semi-final next week, with the England international required to go through the concussion protocols in place to protect players. He isn't the only one either, with Frankie Halton also failing a head injury assessment and also unavailable for Adrian Lam next week.

It gives the Leigh head coach plenty to ponder. Charnley is one of the first names on the team sheet and his unavailability will require a reshuffle, while Halton's absence ensures they will be without another regular.

The back-row issue appears to be a relatively obvious fix though. Lam confirmed that Kai O'Donnell was expected to be available next week after missing the quarter-finals due to an abdominal issue, and so a direct replacement appears likely.

Replacing Charnley isn't quite as simple though. Leigh do have outside back options but there's no obvious wing replacement other than Umyla Hanley, who started the season in the role before being move to centre, where he played against the Reds. Moving Hanley then puts a centre spot up for grabs.

That, you would expect, would go to Zak Hardaker, who was named on the bench on Friday and was deployed in the back-row after Halton's withdrawal. Hardaker is a specialist centre and that seems the most likely move at this point.

That would leave a bench spot free in the seventeen, which would most likely go to either Oliver Holmes or Matt Davis. Holmes was 18th man against Salford so would be the early favourite to be given the nod.

While it sounds simple in one sense, replacing Charnley is anything but. A prolific try-scorer - Charnley has scored 18 Super League tries this season, he also offers so much in yardage. Only Ricky Leutele has made more metres for Leigh this year, with Charnley in the top ten of the entire competition.

Predicted Leigh Leopards side for play-off semi-final

Matt Moylan, Darnell McIntosh, Zak Hardaker, Ricky Leutele, Umyla Hanley, Gareth O'Brien, Lachlan Lam, Tom Amone, Edwin Ipape, Rob Mulhern, Kai O'Donnell, Jack Hughes, John Asiata. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Owen Trout, Aaron Pene, Matt Davis.

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