Reddies relief after prop cleared of serious injury following delay

The clash with closest rivals Ag College was delayed by around 45 minutes after Cudaj went down in a scrum early on in the second half on Saturday.

The club is relieved he's been cleared of anything too serious however coach Michael Wakeling expects it will be at least two months before he returns to the field.

"Jonny is fine and it's ended up just being bruising, which we were very glad to hear," Wakeling said.

"He was discharged from hospital on Saturday night and I spoke to him via Messenger on Sunday and he said he was just really sore and had about 70 per cent movement at that point in time.

"He will be fine but I expect it will be a fair while.

"I had a similar thing happen to me quite a few years ago and it probably took me six weeks, and quite a bit after that to get your confidence back.

"I don't expect to see him much in the first round of the season."

Cudaj had feeling in his extremities on the ground before being treated by paramedics.

"When someone gets an injury like that you're not too sure what the outcome is going to be," Wakeling said.

"I went over and he had feeling and movement in his hands and his feet, which is also a good sign but you still have to worry about getting him off the ground without any further injury so it is a great result."

Reddies were trailing 26-0 when the incident happened.

However Wakeling thought they played their best football after the long break.

"I thought we were pretty good for the first 30 minutes but just struggled to keep possession and they just wear you down if you can't catch your fair share of the ball then you're doing a lot of defending and eventually cracks appear," he said.

"The things I thought we would be good at, as in the line out, ended up letting us down but a lot of the times we were trying things that didn't quite come off.

"There were a lot of times where we created opportunities and the last pass does down or is in front of someone or behind someone.

"I thought it was a pretty good start but we got out enthused in the last 10 of the first half and the bit before John got injured.

"When we came back I think we were better than we were all game. In the last 30 minutes the only try we conceded was, and I'm not quite sure how you lose an uncontested scrum but it happened, when the ball screwed out the side and their breakaway got to it, got close to the line and they scored a couple of phases later."

He's hoping it is something they can build on when they take on Leeton at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.

Especially after the Phantoms marked their return to first grade by downing premiers Waratahs.

However Reddies still have one concern with replacement player Aiden Carl red carded.

He has been charged with striking and has a date with the judiciary on Wednesday.