Matterson loses finger in training incident

The Australian, 42, suffered the injury when his wedding ring caught on a steel fence as he climbed it to retrieve a ball after a training session.

He was taken to hospital for emergency treatment where doctors were unable to sew back the severed finger.

The incident happened just 24 hours into the club's pre-season training camp in Perpignan.

"I saw a ball by a tree the other side of the fence and went to retrieve it but it was higher than I thought and I had to put my hand on to push myself off," recalled Matterson, who did not immediately realise the magnitude of the horror that had unfolded.

"I got down and threw the ball back but then looked down and the finger was gone.

"It was a shock. I looked around for it on the ground but couldn't find it and then it was a bit of a blur.

"I couldn't climb back so I had to put my hand through the fence for our physio to strap it up. The boys then saw the finger stuck on top of the fence and they put it in ice but the specialist said it was too difficult to put it back on."

Matterson checked himself out of hospital and was back at the helm for the Tigers' trial match against Catalans Dragons in Perpignan on Saturday evening, which they won 14-12.

"The boys were fantastic with the way they reacted," he added. "Some of them were struggling with what happened but they got on with the game. I'm really proud of them. It's not ideal. I'd like to have the finger but a lot worse things happen to you. I was playing table tennis with the boys afterwards."

Matterson arrived back in England with his squad on Sunday and saw a specialist yesterday.

Co-operative Championship One newcomers South Wales Scorpions have named four Wales internationals in their initial 28-man squad for the new season – Ashley Bateman, Christiaan Roets and Lee Williams and Phil Cushion.

Most of the players represented Celtic Crusaders' reserves in 2009 or come from clubs in the Welsh Conference.