Image of Will Hope 

Swinton Lions rugby league player Will Hope suffered a season ending injury during a game against his former club Sheffield Eagles.

It is reported that the Swinton loose forward had to wait for three hours on the side-line until an ambulance arrived at the scene as he suffered a dislocated ankle and a broken leg.

The Salford raised player started his career at Salford City Reds, before switching between Oldham, who he won the League One title with, and Sheffield Eagles. Hope sealed the move to Swinton Lions in 2018 and has now scored three tries in 17 appearances.

Ireland international Hope revealed on Twitter that his team mates had to carry him onto a bus which eventually took him from the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield to Salford Royal Hospital. Hope’s injury was evidently a big loss, as Swinton Lions went on to lose to Sheffield Eagles 64-10.

In a recent tweet, Hope described the situation as a “disgrace” going on to say: “That is an absolute disgrace, to be treated like that, with my foot facing the wrong way for up to 5 hours because ‘it wasn’t a priority’ is disgusting and I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy.”

Hope has called for the Rugby Football League to address the problem and to treat every player equally, irrespective of their league.

The chairman of Swinton Lions, Andy Mazey wrote: “The welfare of the player was my only concern last night and we will support our players and staff and I know all our supporters will be right behind him on his road to recovery.”

Hope is known to be a leader in the Swinton Lions squad, with good ball skills and clinical tackling to his game.

At 25 years old, Hope has scored two international tries for Ireland in the 2017 World Cup and has been consistently in the team since.

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