By GABRIEL KATUHO
PNG International and London Broncos center, Alex Max, suffered a chest injury and was taken to hospital during their Challenge Cup match against the Bradford Bulls last Sunday.
Alex Max has been an outstanding player in the newly assembled London Broncos under Head Coach Jason Demetriou and franchise owner Darren Lockyer.
He had displayed an outstanding performance among his PNG players scoring seven tries in just three games making him a weapon of destruction near the try line and a player to count on in every match.
The new look London Broncos have sent waves out to the Betfred competition with fans rushing the internet commenting on the dawn of the new era of the team featuring Australian and Pacific Island Players, specifically Papua New Guinea.
However, Demetriou’s side were eliminated from the Challenge cup after facing a narrow 8-26 defeat to the Bradford Bulls on Sunday.
According to the match report by Christie Vasiliou on www.londonbroncosrl.com , London Went into the half-time break with a lead, but were affected by a series of injuries that reduces their interchange options and left them playing for an extended period with 12 men.
By 25th minute, Jack Croft, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Louis Bienek left the field followed by Dean Hawkins. With no players remaining on the interchange bench, London were unable to replace Alex max when he was assisted off early in the second half forcing several players to play out of their usual positions.
Coach Jason Demetriou in a post-match confirmed the injuries sustained by his players in a single match.
“We lost Jack croft in the first 15 Minutes in Head Injury Assessment (HIA) and we lost Reagan Cambell –Gillard with Calf, Dane Hawkins also suffered a Calf injury and Lewis Bienek as well in the first half. So that put us in a fair pressure then we lost Alex Max, He got to the Hospital with the chest injury,” Demetriou stated.
Meanwhile, Despite being eliminated from the Challenge cup and several players sustaining injuries, PNG international players in the likes of Morea Morea Jnr, Epel Kapinias, Gairo Voro and Robert Mathias have helped the team to narrow the winning margin to 18 points. Finley Glare also score one of the two tries in an individual brilliance to record his second try in his two games.