Leeton's future being monitored after second round of forfeits

The Phantoms forfeited both their first and second grade clashes for the second straight week last weekend.

Head coach Quinten Longhurst said it had been a hard couple of weeks for the club dealing with a raft of illnesses and injuries.

"We'll be on the paddock this weekend in both men's grades," Longhurst said on Wednesday.

"It will be a battle, but we will do the best we can.

"Every weekend is a tough weekend, it doesn't matter who you are up against. You can't take any team for granted.

"Having all of these players injured and sick, it has really disrupted training as well. Especially with set piece. We've been limited to doing particular drills on how to work off the ball.

"We've been doing our best to be pointing to where the sun shines."

Meanwhile, Southern Inland has said it is trying to support Leeton through this difficult period and was hopeful the Phantoms would avoid a third forfeit this season.

A third would see the club's future put in the hands of the Southern Inland board.

A mix of illness, injuries and work commitments were the reasons given by the club after taking limited numbers to Tumut a fortnight ago before forfeiting again ahead of their trip to Murrayfield to tackle Albury on Saturday.

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Southern Inland president Warwick Grant admitted it is a concerning situation. "We are not pleased they are going through these problems, but they are not the only club," Grant said.

"It's for discussion with the board just to see where they are at but I've been speaking to (Leeton president) Ian Pascoe and he assures me is it just a bump in the road at the moment.

"Because they are away games people can't get away all day from work, they've had people sick and injured and it has all come to a head in the last couple of weeks."

The draw certainly hasn't been in their favour with the club facing their two longest road trips in consecutive weeks.

Longhurst said Southern Inland had been helpful over the last couple of weeks.

"Our president has been in contact with SIRU ... we aren't the only club in this predicament," he said.

"Unfortunately it's happening to us, but Southern Inland seem to be doing their best to look after us.

"The aim of the game at the end of the day is to be getting as many people as possible playing rugby.

"We're definitely not the only club in this position across the different codes as well. It's just what we are having to contend with at the moment."

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