WIDNES boss Paul Cullen has praised the toughness of utility man John Duffy as he continues to battle through the pain barrier for the Vikings.
Duffy has found himself on the treatment table several times this season but has still produced some excellent performances for his side.
The latest saw the former, Warrington, Leigh and Whitehaven man produce a five-star showing in Widnes’s 42-16 demolition of Halifax last Friday.
It came less than a fortnight after he was diagnosed with a broken jaw having been forced off the field in the first half of the Vikings’ defeat at at Gateshead.
Cullen told the Echo: “Post-Gateshead the initial assessment was he’d got a fracture of the jaw.
“He went to hospital the following day and X-rays confirmed that.
“Then we sent him for further tests and scans which proved it was actually damage to ligaments within the joint.
“Then it became a matter of pain management for John and he’s proved to be very tough.”
Duffy will have to pass a ‘head test’ in order to make himself available for Widnes’s trip to Featherstone Rovers on Sunday.
Second row Richard Fletcher is rated highly doubtful after suffering a shoulder injury in the Halifax game but skipper Smith should be back in harness having got married last weekend.
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