Hayden Bolam ruled out for remainder of Peter McDonald Premiership season with ACL injury

Bolam left the field during the first half of the Saints' derby clash with Bathurst Panthers on July 16, with the hooker and Pat's staff initially having a degree of confidence that the injury might not be dire news.

Since then scans revealed that the news was worse than they feared.

Pat's player-coach Zac Merritt said it was an unwelcome shock to hear how bad the damage was.

"On game day he said to me that he thought that he'd just twisted it but he needs that operated on, so he's out for the year," he said.

"It hurts any team when you lose such a good player like that. He's a premiership-winner and the reigning player of the year. You can't help injuries. It's footy, and it happens."

Bolam's combination of speed and decision making out of dummy half made him one of the biggest threats in the competition throughout 2022, and while he believed that he hadn't quite matched last year's highs he has still remained one of the top number nines in the region.

He also had a share of the lead in the league's best and fairest race for 2023 before votes stopped going public last month.

His injury was the biggest blow on a day where the Saints not only went down in the derby, 26-14, but also lost both their starting wingers to injury.

"From the sounds of things Call Naden is out for the year as well. He's got ligament damage in his ankle that he'll need to monitor and there could be something wrong with his knee as well," Merritt said.

"Matt Beattie's looking at three to six weeks so we're hoping for a return against Mudgee or Hawks for him. He got his ankle twisted as well. We saw a lot of lower body injuries during that game."

Pat's will call upon the services of starting reserve grade hooker Cameron Dennis for the rest of the PMP campaign.

Dennis was instrumental in Bathurst Panthers' Group 10 reserve grade premiership and Western Premiers Challenge win last year.

After coming back across to the Saints he has been a driving force in making Pat's the leading team in the new Western-wide competition.

He's got big shoes to fill but Merritt has confidence that the member of the Saints' 2014 premiership-winning team is up to the task.

"He's been in great form for the reserve grade team, and him and Haydo pretty much play identical roles," he said.

"It hurts to lose Haydo but the guy we've got replacing him is just as good, it's just that Haydo being the reigning player of the year and having been here for the last three years puts him ahead.

"Cammo's coming in and I've got full belief that he'll do a good job for us, plus more."

Merritt himself has also been forced to spend time on the sideline with a groin injury.

Another member of the champion 2014 Pat's side is ready and willing to help while the coach waits to make his return.

"Hopefully I'll be back for Mudgee," Merritt said, targeting the August 6 game as his earliest possible return.

"I'm still a little bit away but hopefully I'll be back after tearing my groin. We'll still have a strong squad for this weekend.

"We've have Dave Howard coming into the squad this weekend. He won a premiership with us in 2014. We're also thinking about bringing up a couple of juniors who have been playing well in under 18s.

"We'll just have to confirm that later in the week."

St Pat's play host to Lithgow Workies this Sunday in their next PMP clash.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.