Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey has admitted the family emergency that led to Papua New Guinea international Willie Minoga being granted compassionate leave has brought the squad some perspective.

The Raiders are without a win in 12 games after their 26-12 loss against Featherstone Rovers last Sunday, but the game was almost secondary after the news that broke the previous day.

Prop Minoga flew back to his homeland on Saturday after finding out his pregnant wife had been injured in a car accident and the 27-year-old will be with his family for the next two weeks.

Not surprisingly, the worrying news did have an effect on his teammates, not least his PNG compatriots Stargroth Amean and Wartovo Puara, with a potential fight against relegation from the Betfred Championship suddenly not seeming to matter so much.

Crarey said: “It’s rocked the joint and it’s been a pretty sombre place with Willie, who was pretty emotional before he left and he’s gone home for two weeks.

“He wants to come back – he’s left all his stuff here, but whether he does or not when family is the most important thing, I’m not sure.

“It’s kind of put things into perspective and Jarrad Stack has had a little bit of bad news with his family, so it’s probably affected him as well, although we don’t want to disclose what has happened there.”