Bulldog sidelined by ankle fracture

TALENTED Gunnedah centre Paul Sharpley has been sidelined by a fractured ankle.

Sharpley injured his ankle in the first half of last Sunday’s loss to Narrabri at Narrabri but played on in a courageous effort to help the Bulldogs who trailed 18-12 at halftime but lost 36-18.

Narrabri claimed the Dallas Donnelly Cup with that win at Collins Park to kick start their season while the Bulldogs came off a 48-16 first round win over Werris Creek.

Sharpley had scored the first try for Gunnedah against Narrabri with a scything run from a scrum and was looking dangerous.

“He injured his ankle 10 minutes before half-time,” Gunnedah coach Mick Schmiedel told Group 4 Media.

“It’s amazing he stayed on as long as he did, he didn’t come off whinging or complaining about his ankle, just said he couldn’t put any weight on it.”

Schmiedel has named Mitch Fletcher in the centres with Zak Turnbull while also welcoming back KC Edmonds, Trent Hilton and Liam Ireland to his pack.

However, he does have a few “50-50” players, fitness wise.

“Yeah we’ve got three or four who are 50-50 at this stage,” he said.

“Won’t know until training tonight (and maybe before 3pm Saturday).

“The physicality of the game last week,” he said has been a defining reason for the fitness of his side.

“It was a tough game,” he said of the Narrabri stoush.

“That’s why we had a light training run Tuesday. We had wounded troops everywhere.

“The boys are still up tempo though. I was happy with they way they played (at Narrabri) and we are excited about the Norths game.”

It is also the club’s Old Boys Day.

GUNNEDAH: 1 Dylan O’Brien, 2 Joel Martin, 3 Mitch Fletcher, 4 Zak Turnbull, 5 Jared Heinrich, 6 Aiden Davis, 7 Dylan Lake, 8 Lincon Smith, 9 Nick White, 10 Clay McCann, 11 Trent Hilton, 12 KC Edmonds, 13 Liam Irleand, 14 Jono Crowe, 15 Braydon Talbot-Hatch, 16 Tony Griffiths, 17 Ben Gardner. Coach: Mick Schmiedel.