RYAN Brierley’s most productive spell of his Super League career has been halted by a horror eye injury.

The Leigh star sustained the gruesome looking damage soon after notching his 199th career try in last week’s 48-18 defeat at Leeds Rhinos.

Brierley, who has scored seven tries and kicked 21 goals for Centurions this term, has already undergone emergency surgery.

Now, with the eye still closed, he is due to see a specialist this week to determine the full extent of the damage.

Last week he tweeted these images.

 

“It is not great,” said the 29-year-old, set to miss at least a month of Centurions’ battle against relegation starting with Sunday’s trip to Hull FC.

“I have another appointment to see if the issue can be fixed,” he added. “Both eyes got impacted, but the most severe was left.

“Due to the swelling, it is hard to tell what has happened. Hopefully, it will settle down in the next couple of weeks but it’s up there with one of the worst injuries I have had.

“It’s difficult to put a time frame on it. Until I can see clearly it would be dangerous to play.

“But I want to get back on the field as soon as possible. There are not many games left and I want to help the boys as much as possible.

“It may sound daft because the team is struggling but this is probably the best I have played in terms of the all-round package.

“Hopefully, when I am allowed to return I can continue this form.”

Leigh travel to Hull carrying a 13-game losing streak including a 64-22 defeat by Brett Hodgson’s side at LSV on June 19.

They remain favourites for a quick return to the Championship though with continued uncertainty around the fixture list Brierley questions if relegation should be enforced this season.

“It is easy to say because we are bottom of the table,” he said. “But I can’t see how we can still have relegation when teams are not having to play certain other teams."

“Let’s say we are in a fight with Huddersfield. They have just given Castleford a 24-0 win but when we played Cas we lost 52-16 but had loads of players missing.

“If it goes down to points difference we would have been better off forfeiting the game to lose 24-0.

“You have got to be careful it doesn’t set a precedent and people take advantage of the rules.

“Player welfare does take priority, but my argument is there shouldn’t be any repercussions in terms of relegation because it is such a bad thing for all clubs.”

Interim coach Kurt Haggerty, who has recalled Jamie Ellis from his loan spell at York, will also be without influential forward James Bell this weekend with a one-match suspension.