Rugby League: Lindsay's Concern After Withers' Injury

Wigan's chairman, Maurice Lindsay, has urged the Rugby Football League to commission research into the growing number of injuries in the game after learning that the Warriors' Australian full-back Michael Withers has become the latest long-term casualty of the Super League's busy Easter schedule. Withers, below, was told yesterday that he will be out for at least two months after suffering ligament damage in the win at Leeds last week. Lindsay said: "Whereas in the era when Wigan were rampant we could manage four games in eight days, I don't think midweek matches are fair on the players now. The game is so much more physically demanding, and squads are smaller because of the salary cap. I think it is time for a detailed study to assess the injury rate compared with previous years." Lindsay also denied any interest in Eorl Crabtree, the England prop in the last year of his contract with Huddersfield.