RUGBY LEAGUE
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Opposition forward packs can breathe a sigh of relief that Wests coach Jason Ryles' planned return to on-field action has been scuppered by a hamstring injury.
The veteran of 15 Tests and eight Origins for NSW combined playing and coaching duties in his first season at Parrish Park last year but hung up the boots to focus on coaching this year.
A horror injury run that's seen the Devils lose key bookends Lloyd Thomas and Justin King to season-ending injuries prompted Ryles to consider a return to boost his side's finals charge but a dodgy hamstring will ensure the boots stay on the hook.
"It would've been nice just to help out because we're down a few 'middles' but the hammy's still no good," Ryles said.
"I hurt my hammy [last year] and it's still not right so I'll run out of time before I can get back to playing."
The Devils did well enough without Ryles last week. Their 30-24 victory over Thirroul maintained a one win lead over Dapto.
"At the end of the day we just made less errors, completed our sets and did all the simple things right," Ryles said.
"We were able to build a bit of pressure and our kicking game with Justin Rodrigues was exceptional. That got us the win in the end, team effort."
With some key troops to return from injury, the Devils are building nicely towards the end of the season.
They'll play the first of two games against Corrimal, who upset them 23-14 in round nine, at home on Saturday ahead of an away match with Helensburgh and a return clash with the Cougars to finish the season.
Ryles said their pre-season goal of a top-two finish is within reach.
"You can't do too much about season-ending injuries but we'll have [Daniel] Holdsworth come back, more likely next week, and we'll get Tremaine Jensen back and Bronx [Goodwin] back for the last game," Ryles said.
"It's in the back of our minds that we'll have some troops coming back so we've just got to get through the next few weeks and build on last week.
"It's a huge goal of ours to finish in that top two.
"We've seen first-hand that Corrimal aren't what they were in the past.
"They're a tough team now so we'll have two tough games against them as well as Helensburgh so it'll be good preparation going into the semis.
"Hopefully we can pick up a few of those games and grab that second spot."