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Glasgow Rangers should focus on adding more creativity to their squad before the January transfer window, which opened for business on Thursday, slams shut.

Per Sofascore, full-back James Tavernier is the only player in the squad who has created more than three ‘big chances’ in the Scottish Premiership, with eight ‘big chances’ created and three assists to his name.

Most big chances created in 25/26 Premiership

Player

Big chances created

Declan John

10

Daizen Maeda

9

Alexandros Kyziridis

9

James Tavernier

8

Cameron Congrave

8

Stats via Sofascore

The Gers skipper has recorded 146 assists in 545 matches for the club in all competitions to date, showing that he has consistently provided a big threat as a creator from a right-back position throughout his time at Ibrox.

Rangers, though, have scored six fewer goals than Celtic and ten fewer goals than Hearts, the two teams above them, which suggests that they need more quality in possession, instead of solely relying on Tavernier’s creativity.

Rangers considering move for former Premiership star

Danny Rohl and the recruitment team at Ibrox appear to have identified this problem within the squad, as they are reportedly looking at a star who could be Tavernier 2.0.

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According to the Daily Record, Rohl is considering a move to bring AEK Athens left-back James Penrice to Glasgow Rangers in the January transfer window.

The report claims that the German head coach has placed the Scottish defender high up on his list of left-back targets this month, as he seeks out competition for Jayden Meghoma in that position. Rohl has already asked technical director Dan Purdy to check out his performances.

Penrice joined AEK Athens for £2m from Hearts in the summer transfer window before this season, but the report does not reveal how much of that £2m they would want back in order to cash in on him this month.

The Daily Record adds, though, that Rohl wants new signings in the building as quickly as possible in January, which means that their interest in Penrice could accelerate in the coming days.

Why Rangers should sign James Penrice

Rangers should push to seal a deal for the AEK Athens full-back because his form for Hearts in the 2024/25 campaign suggests that he can provide the creativity that the team currently lack outside of Tavernier.

Signing an experienced 27-year-old left-back option could also be a good decision, with 19-year-old Meghoma currently their only option in that role, providing Rohl with a good blend of youth and experience at left-back.

Penrice’s form in the Premiership for Hearts, prior to moving to Greece last summer, caught the eye because he ended last season with two goals and five assists to his name, per Sofascore.

The Scottish star, as shown in the clip, provides a set-piece threat with his brilliant inswinging deliveries on his left foot, just as Tavernier provides a similar threat with inswinging set-pieces on his right foot.

This means that Rohl’s team could be incredibly dangerous offensively from set-pieces on both sides of the pitch by starting two full-backs who are exceptional at putting the ball on a plate for their teammates.

Most big chances created in 24/25 Premiership

Player

Big chances created

James Tavernier

18

Alistair Johnston

15

James Penrice

14

Reo Hatate

14

Lawrence Shankland

14

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, only Celtic’s Alistair Johnston and Tavernier created more ‘big chances’ in the Premiership than Penrice last term, which suggests that the Hearts star was unfortunate to end the campaign with just five assists to his name.

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STV Radio host Ewen Cameron claims that the experienced defender would be “perfect for Rangers” because of how good he was for Hearts, and it is hard to disagree with that assessment.

Penrice averaged 3.4 tackles and interceptions per game, 1.7 key passes per game, and created 14 ‘big chances’ in the Premiership last season for Hearts, per Sofascore.

This season, meanwhile, Meghoma has averaged 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game, 0.7 key passes per game, and created three ‘big chances’ midway through the current top-flight campaign, per Sofascore, for Rangers.

These statistics suggest that Penrice would arrive at Ibrox as an instant upgrade on the Brentford loanee, whilst also solving Rohl’s lack of creativity in the squad.

Therefore, Rangers must push to get a deal done for his services in the coming days so that the manager will have a left-back version of Tavernier who can provide consistent quality as a creative threat in the Premiership.

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	Ashley Noffke has been called in as replacement to the injured Nathan Bracken © Getty Images

Anil Kumble has been ruled out of the opening match of the Indian Premier League, Rahul Dravid, the captain of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, has confirmed. Kumble’s absence is the latest blow to a side still uncertain about the availability of some of its international stars.Kumble, who missed the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, is yet to recover from a groin injury. “He will miss the first game definitely but we’ll see how it goes as we go along,” Dravid said in Bangalore. “Anil is keen to play and we hope in about 4-5 days he should be able to play. The physio at the National Cricket Academy – Paul Close – and the franchise physio are both in discussion and we’ll take a decision on that.”There has been some uncertainty over players’ availability for the Bangalore franchise. Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher were expected to leave for the South African domestic Twenty20 competition but will now stay back. Dale Steyn, though, won’t be available for the early stages and both Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan batsman, and Abdur Razzaq, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, will miss the opening clash because of the ongoing series in Pakistan.”There’s been a lot of uncertainty over who is available,” said Dravid. “We were waiting to see whether the South African players will stay back, Anil and [Nathan] Bracken miss out because of injury – Anil hopefully only for a game, Bracken maybe till May. We have [Ashley] Noffke and Ross Taylor till end of the month. And now we have Kallis and Boucher for more. Steyn’s arrival will depend on how his franchise does in their Twenty20 competition back home. As for Misbah and Razzaq – a series is on. So they can join only after that.”The franchise wasted little time in getting a replacement for Bracken, the Australian left-arm seamer, who was ruled out for at least four weeks. “Bracken was unavailable till his injury situation, maybe the first week of May. Opportunity came up to sign up Noffke, only for the first four games, after which he goes back to Australia. We looked at him as a good allrounder potential. He’s had a good season with Queensland.”The good news, though, comes in the form of another left-arm seamer, Zaheer Khan, recovering from injury. “Zaheer is coming on really well,” Venkatesh Prasad, the coach said. “He was not really 100% before the start of the series which we played [against South Africa] but now he’s coming along quite well. He’s been bowling 90-95% in the net sessions. We’re playing a practice game and it will give us a good indication.”Bangalore kick off the tournament with a home game against Kolkata on April 18.

Piyush Chawla will attend the bowlers camp in Mysore © AFP

Piyush Chawla, the Uttar Pradesh legspinner, and Pankaj Singh, the 22-year-old Rajasthan fast bowler, have been asked to join the five-day bowlers camp in Mysore starting on June 4th. Former India seamer Venkatesh Prasad, who was the team’s fast bowling during the recent visit to Bangladesh, would assist the 14 bowlers.Chawla was to leave last night for Australia where here was scheduled to train at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane along with Tamil Nadu medium pacer Yomahesh and Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.It was also speculated that Chawla had been advised to cancel his Australian sojourn since he could be named in the Indian squad for the one-day internationals against South Africa and Pakistan later this month. That team was to be picked on June 11.Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who were part of the originial list, would not take part in the camp as they would be playing in the Afro-Asia Cup. Sreesanth, who has been included in the Asia squad for the lone Twenty-20 International against Africa on June 5, would join the group the following day. The camp would be held at Infosys Complex and stringent security has been put in place.The batsmen’s camp would be held from June 9 to 12 at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.The 14 bowlers to train at the camp: Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Pankaj Singh.

‘Too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon’ © Getty Images

It may not have been all that tough for Shivnarine Chanderpaul to relinquish the West Indies captaincy. Except for any superficial damage to his ego, it was his only real option after a turbulent year in which he enjoyed only one Test victory and two one-day wins. Would it have been any different if he and his team had held their nerve and won the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park?Probably, but the fact that they didn’t reinforced the belief that this is a side that has become so accustomed to losing that they are almost paralysed by anxiety in a tight situation. The fact that there is no obvious successor, and really hasn’t been for the last five years, speaks volumes, not just about the parlous state of the game, but the quality of individuals being produced by West Indian societies.Despite all of that, the West Indies Cricket Board must announce the new captain sooner rather than later. We can do without all sorts of wild speculation over the coming days, especially with the start of the seven-match limited-over series against Zimbabwe just two weeks away.Even if I still believe that Wavell Hinds will do a good job, I have to concede that going the way of picking a captain who is not an automatic selection in the final XI is unprecedented in contemporary West Indies cricket and would probably create more problems that it solves. For all of his apparent reluctance to take on the responsibility, too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon.As vice-captain for most of the last three years and an established batsman in the middle-order, the 25-year-old “veteran” has enjoyed a free ride-seniority without real responsibility-for long enough. It may bring the best out of him and we will all say why the decision wasn’t made earlier. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the burden of leading a team that will still be losing much more than winning for some time could take a toll on his confidence and his batting, much in the same way as Chanderpaul has been affected.But like ending one footballer’s World Cup dream in a month’s time, tough decisions have to be made with an eye to the future. Unlike the legal profession, you can’t opt for a course of action, lose and then interpret it as a victory. Only politicians and their rabid following fall for that nonsense.

Somerset 345 for 6 (Smith 108, Jayasuriya 101) beat Australians 342 for 5 (Ponting 80, Hayden 76)
Scorecard

Ricky Ponting: an emphatic statement spectacularly backfired © Getty Images

On Monday it was Australia’s batsmen who imploded in spectacular fashion. Today, as if to prove a point, it was the turn of the bowlers. Somerset, powered by two brilliant centuries from their international imports, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith, chased down a monumental target of 343 to win by four wickets with a massive 19 deliveries to spare.Two days ago, Ricky Ponting tried to laugh off the relevance of Australia’s 100-run defeat in the Twenty20 international, but he will have to come up with a better excuse this time around. This was a bona fide humiliation for Australia. Michael Kasprowicz was belted for 89 runs in eight innocuous overs, and the management’s worries were compounded when Brett Lee left the field with a shoulder problem.All of a sudden, Australia are being forced to face up to a crisis situation. In years gone by, they have had merely to step off the plane and their opponents would prostrate themselves at their feet. Not any more. Where once Somerset might have been tempted to rest several key players to save them for the Championship, today they fronted up in the manner that any self-respecting state side would do if England came to call.Smith and Jayasuriya caught the mood magnificently, and had elderly members recalling the days of Gimblett and Alley as they clobbered 26 fours and four sixes between them while adding 197 in just 23 overs. They each brought up their half-centuries in a mere 42 balls, and then accelerated on from that point, flogging Kasprowicz for 61 runs in his first six overs. Smith was eventually stumped for a superb 108 from 74 balls, and Jayasuriya was scarcely any slower, rattling along to 101 from 79 until he was caught at fine leg off Glenn McGrath.McGrath, as usual, was the pick of the attack, but he was still dispatched at nearly five runs an over, and such was Australia’s disarray that he had to bowl all ten of his overs long before the end of the innings. He added the wicket of John Francis as well to peg Somerset back to 254 for 3, and when Ian Blackwell’s potent innings of 25 was ended by Shane Watson, Australia began to believe they could haul the match out of the fire.But they had reckoned without the nerveless 20-year-old, James Hildreth, who climbed into Kasprowicz’s second spell and turned a taxing run-chase into a cakewalk. The wicketkeeper, Carl Gazzard, chipped in with 21 from 12 balls and Australia were a beaten outfit well before the end.The day had started so well for Australia. After Ponting had won the toss on a belter of a pitch, Matthew Hayden laid into a Somerset attack lacking the services of the injured Andrew Caddick, and did his utmost to erase the memory of that 79 all out at The Rose Bowl. Of the top six, only Simon Katich – opening in place of the rested Adam Gilchrist – failed to make an impact as he fell for 12, and while Hayden was crashing along to 76 from 53 balls, the sky seemed the limit of Australia’s ambitions.Both Ponting and Hayden chose to retire to give their team-mates a chance, but 342 still seemed a formidable total. In the event, but it proved to be some 25 runs too few. Australia’s opening encounter of the NatWest Series takes place at Cardiff on Saturday, where Bangladesh can expect to feel the full backlash.

Close England XI 152 for 2 (Vaughan 66, Hussain 76*) lead University of West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI 119 (Haynes 45, Harmison 4-17, Jones 3-40) by 33 runs
Scorecard

Simon Jones: back in the limelight© Getty Images

England’s bowlers enjoyed a comfortable warm-up on the opening day of their match at the Mona Oval in Kingston. Playing their likely team for next week’s first Test at Sabina Park, England ended proceedings in total control against the inexperienced Vice-Chancellor’s XI. Steve Harmison impressed with 4 for 17, and Simon Jones weighed in with three wickets on his return in a meagre total of 119. Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain then piled on 149, and England ended the day 33 in frontAfter much debate, the game was given first-class status after all, withboth sides allowed to field only 11 men. The big bonus for England was that Jones came through 10.2 overs unscathed, and with some wickets, but the bad news was that Graham Thorpe missed the start of play with a back strain. As a result of that, and Mark Butcher’s twisted ankle, Andrew Strauss will fly out this Sunday as cover for the first Test only.A preview of the match in today’s trumpeted that this “should be a real tester” for England, as the Vice-Chancellor’s outfitincluded “some of the region’s most-talented young cricketers”. It didn’tturn out that way, by any stretch of the imagination.Jason Haynes, the home captain, who is also in charge of West Indies B, did make the bowlers work early on, but that was about it. He batted throughout the morning session, smacking Matthew Hoggard for six over long-on, and later driving and cutting Jones to the boundary from successive balls. That was in Jones’s eagerly awaited – and expensive – first over back in full England colours, but he got his revenge soon after lunch, when Haynes shuffled too far across his stumps and lost his leg peg.That wicket sparked off a major collapse in the Vice-Chancellor’s ranksafter they had made a solid start to reach 72 for 2 at lunch. After Haynes departed for 45, the Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo, who scored a stylish 23, was trapped in front by Harmison (90 for 4), then David Bernard was rather unfortunate to be caught by Chris Read after the ball rebounded off Paul Collingwood at short leg (93 for 5). It was a lucky break for Ashley Giles, the bowler, but a deserved one after his tireless efforts wheeling away into the strong wind – his first ten overs cost only 16.Next to go was Tonito Willett, whose father played for West Indies in the 1970s. He slogged Giles to Hussain at midwicket for 2 (94 for 6), and in the following over Harmison clean-bowled Ryan Nurse to leave the Vice-Chancellor’s team blowing away with the strong Kingston breeze at 94 for 7. Things then got even worse for them soon after, when Jason Bennett was caught by Marcus Trescothick at first slip off Harmison (95 for 8).Ryan Cunningham and Darren Sammy stopped the rot with a gritty stand of 24, which was broken by Jones, back for a second spell. He got one to keep low and shoot under Cunningham’s bat. Jermaine Lawson was cleaned up first ball, leaving Jones on a hat-trick in the second innings.However, Lawson made an immediate impact in England’s reply after tea, bowling Trescothick with the first ball of the innings with a full delivery. Buoyed on by the small crowd, Lawson cranked up the pace, but Vaughan and Hussain were equal to it. Hussain, in particular, was in aggressive form, cutting and pulling anything off line. Vaughan, dropped at first slip off Nurse when he had made 44, was also in fine fettle until he was controversially given out caught at first slip off the left-arm spin of Cunningham shortly before the belated close – he felt the ball had only taken his pad.”Hopefully we’ve given the public a snapshot of what we can do,” Harmison said afterwards. “All the hype about Simon was understandable, considering he’s probably our fastest bowler through the air. Once he settled down, he did really well. It’s exciting to be part of this pace attack. Even though we’re competing for places, Simon and I are the best of mates. Hats off to him for the way he’s come back from that injury.”

Sir Richard Hadlee would be well within his rights to claim that there has never been a dull moment since he took on the job of chairman of New Zealand’s selection panel.Injury has been his, and his fellow selectors, Ross Dykes, Brian McKechnie, David Trist initially, and Denis Aberhart latterly, constant companion. Not injury of their own, but to their players.It seemed that things couldn’t get much worse than New Zealand’s African excursion of 2000/01 when the shuttling of players across the Indian Ocean did wonders for the airline profits of those concerned.But today, as he received news that fast bowler Shane Bond hadn’t recovered from his ear infection and needed to be covered in case he was unable to play tomorrow, he said that the injury concerns of the moment are the worst of his time in the position.”There is just no continuity in selection,” he said.The problems were not insurmountable but they were a frustration as the selectors tried to settle on their preferred combinations for the World Cup.

Division 1 (Time games)Andover 152 (Simpson 32, Langdown 30, Staddon 29, Dibden 5-51, Goldstraw 3-31)
BAT Sports 153-1 (Shirazi 84, Carson 46)
BAT Sports won by 9 wicketsBournemouth 247-8 (Swarbrick 63, Wilkinson 41, Miller 39, Cassell 32)
Burridge 161-9 (Dixon 32, Jackson 28, Waite 4-48, Kidner 3-24)
Match drawnBashley (Rydal) 245-6 (Thurgood 76, Neal 57, Loader 30)
Calmore Sports 246-4 (Hibberd 82, Goode 79, Pegler 39)
Calmore Sports won by 6 wicketsSouth Wilts 233-9 (Rowe 62, Lamb 40, Caines 34, Glasson 32, Wade 28, Loat 5-67, Hindley 4-73)
Havant 195-7 (Loat 50, Greenfield 44, Hindley 42, Tomlinson 4-38)
Match drawnLiphook & Ripsley 289-5 (Jansen 80, Riley 69, Smyth 65, Ford 3-128)
Hungerford 158 (Laney 57, Jansen 3-32)
Liphook & Ripsley won by 133 runsDivision 2 (50 overs)Old Tauntonians 166 (Ord 36, K Trodd 26, Docis 5-23)
Cove 169-2 (Randall 75, Benham 56)
Cove won by 8 wicketsHambledon 174 (Field 45, le Clerq 39, Felgate 4-53)
Trojans 175-4 (Mohammed 60, Subnaik 46)
Trojans won by 6 wicketsOld Basing 106 (Thorne 25, Maru 5-12, Hayward 3-18)
Portsmouth 101-0 (Cook 59, Pike 37)
Portsmouth won by 10 wicketsLymington 279-4 (Peacock 68, Trestrail 65, Craft 61, Young 36)
Sparsholt 176-9 (Nichols 29, Peacock 4-51)
Lymington won by 103 runsUnited Services 183-9 (Hounsome 46, Geoghegan 35, McKeever 32, St Green 3-30, Stone 3-52)
Easton & Martyr Worthy 185-9 (Sh Green 105, Brooks 6-40)
Easton & Martyr Worthy won by 1 wicketDivision 3 (50 overs)Alton 268-8 (Paddy Heffernan 79, Morgan 56, Balllinger 35, Mark Heffernan 30)
Havant II 159 (Mist 47, Owen 38, Ballinger 3-17, Rotherham 3-41)
Alton won by 109 runsBashley (Rydal) II 265-6 (Hall 82, Britton 52, Dean 35, Slater 5-62)
Waterlooville 184 (Shephard 76, Spinks 32, Marsh 4-50)
Bashley (Rydal) won by 81 runsUnited Services II 90 (Collins 6-30, Edwards 3-27)
Gosport Borough 93-5 (Rees 36)
Gosport Borough won by 5 wicketsHursley Park 298-3 (Harris 124, Marks 59, Halder 49)
Hook & Newnham Basics 301-3 (Kaminski 147, Lovelock 105)
Hook & Newnham Basics won by 7 wicketsPaultons 329-8 (Richman 103, Park 51, James 42)
Lymington II 177 (Stephenson 35, Tapper 29, Lamb 5-30, Wilde 3-56)
Paultons won by 152 runsRowledge 227-5 (R Yates 74, Booton 40, Mitchell 36, Wheeler 3-53)
New Milton 183-9 (Wheeler 94, C Yates 5-53)
Rowledge won by 44 runsFlamingos 201-6 (Merkel 84, J Greer 37, Manthorpe 26, Limb 4-24)
Portsmouth II 202-8 (Mitchell 94, Rogers 42, McMurray 5-35)
Portsmouth won by 2 wicketsSt Cross Symondians 229-9 (Parker 41, Slape 35, Perry-Lewis 34, J Adams 26, Stanley 3-37)
Purbrook 227-8 (McCoy 65, Stanley 36, Lipscombe 3-52)
St Cross Symondians won by 2 runsLeckford 173 (Howard 61, M Taylor 3-30, S Marks 3-42)
Winchester KS 177-3 (P Marks 54, Parsons 43, Wheeler 25)
Winchester KS won by 7 wickets

Barcelona have reportedly offered Leeds United the chance to sign striker Martin Braithwaite in a deal that would take Raphinha to the Nou Camp.

The Lowdown: Braithwaite profiled

Braithwaite, formerly of Middlesbrough, where Tony Pulis described him as ‘exceptional’, has been with Barcelona since 2020.

The Denmark international joined from Leganes and reportedly has a frankly ridiculous £251m release clause in his contract.

The 30-year-old has scored ten times in 58 appearances for the Catalan giants but has missed the majority of the current campaign with a knee injury.

The Latest: Talks held

Mundo Deportivo shared an update regarding Raphinha and Barcelona on Saturday morning.

They revealed that conversations have been held between the two clubs, where Barcelona have offered Braithwaite in a deal for the Leeds winger as they look to bring down the cost. Defenders Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest and Clement Lenglet were also name-checked in a potential transfer.

The Verdict: Avoid?

Although Leeds could do with adding to their attacking ranks following Patrick Bamford’s injury issues this season, Braithwaite doesn’t appear to be the answer.

He has also had his injury issues of his own this season and is on a whopping £98,000-a-week – only Rodrigo earns more at Elland Road.

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The Barcelona man may well be past his prime and he’ll be 31 in the summer, so it could make sense for Victor Orta and Jesse Marsch to go after a younger attacking target, one with more durability and less wage demands.

In other news: Leeds may now lose another star alongside Raphinha and Phillips; he stunned a club employee. 

	Stuart MacGill: “The reason I’m happiest is that it didn’t go completely to plan” © Getty Images

Stuart MacGill’s dream first-class return from injury has ended a dark patch that threatened to close his international career. However, after taking 5 for 49 for New South Wales on the opening day of the Pura Cup match against South Australia he is back at the front of the queue and the country’s spin stocks are suddenly much healthier.During MacGill’s absence Brad Hogg was the leading slow man, but when he retired Bryce McGain and Dan Cullen were the main options if MacGill did not recover from the wrist surgery he had late last year. The operation was required after MacGill felt numbness in his bowling arm and he performed poorly in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart. There was doubt about whether he could regain fitness – he was also struggling with a knee injury – but he has overcome the initial hurdle.MacGill started with a wicket first ball and was satisfied with his return during 17.4 overs. “The reason I’m happiest is that it didn’t go completely to plan,” he said in the Australian. “For a long period I wasn’t exactly as I wanted to be playing. Probably at the end when I was going for the most runs was when I thought I could put the most work on the ball.”On an SCG surface sympathetic to the spinners – Cullen picked up 3 for 9 on day one – MacGill captured Daniel Harris with his opening delivery. “There was definitely luck, there was no question of luck being with me,” he said. “You know, first ball, half-tracker, straight to point, that’s probably as lucky as you are going to get. Mind you, I’ve been lucky a number of times in my career if that’s the criteria, but maybe it was straight back into form first ball, I don’t know.”MacGill is 37 but Andrew Hilditch, the national chairman of selectors, is not bothered by age and wants a high-class spinner with the Test squad. “The reality is that we envisage, as we did at the start of the season, that we were really looking to get from Stuart, or perhaps Hoggy, a couple of years of cricket where we get a period of time for the younger spinners around the country to develop and take that next step,” Hilditch told the paper. “Obviously with Stuart’s injuries and now Brad Hogg’s retirement, that plan’s pretty much on hold at the moment.”We’re obviously interested in how Stuart goes in his comeback. I haven’t seen him for a little while. I’m told he’s looking extremely fit and has made a lot of progress over the last couple of months so it will be interesting to see how he goes.” He has started well and will have another opportunity as New South Wales chase hosting rights for the final.