Is this the unluckiest man in rugby league?

Stuart Calvert has such a poor medical record that the insurance company have come to doubt the legitimacy of his many claims.

The Cougars second rower has failed to complete more than a few minutes of rugby since June 2001 after an appalling catalogue of bad luck.

His problems began when he broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist. This was operated on but there was a problem setting the bone and when it failed to heal properly, he had to have it done again.

After weeks of training hard, including being a one-armed waterboy, he finally got his chance away at Leigh Centurions last season.

Two tackles into his appearance off the bench he severely pulled his groin.

So bad was his injury that he had to a have a fist-sized piece of bone removed, described by his doctor "as something he had never seen before".

That was last season and after re-hab and the successful completion of a semi-opposed practice match on the Cougar Park pitch, Calvert, still very much part of coach Gary Moorby's squad, then attempted his comeback for Dudley Hill second string.

But in yet another amazing piece of bad luck, he went down again.

This time no-one even had to tackle him. A side-step ripped his cruciate ligament and he faces yet another six months on the sidelines.

"I have got to be the unluckiest player I know," said Calvert, who is hoping to be available for selection come September's National League Division Two play-offs.

"There is nowt you can do but laugh now. Every time I play I get injured straightaway. The insurance people have started questioning it but I can show them the records - it is all true." Calvert is heading to the Yorkshire Clinic, where he is now a regular, this week for the knee reconstruction which he is hoping will be his last injury for a while.

"I was never really injured before," he said.

"I'd had my eyes lasered but that was about it. And then I have just had the most stupid list of injuries. I couldn't be any unluckier.

"I am sick of being injured but I can't let it get me down - I will be back."

Calvert, who still attends training cannot even act as a waterboy at the moment because he can't run.