WHEN James Roby describes, in such a matter of fact way, playing on with a strapped-up double dislocated finger he explains just why he is a virtual ever present on the Man of Steel shortlist.

The England hooker sustained the horrific injury playing against Salford in June, but despite a few worried looks he was swiftly back on board with no obvious ill-effects.

For the best part of 11 seasons now Roby has been turning in such consistently high quality performances that have become such a standard that they are no longer greeted with a fanfare - playing on with such a bad injury underlined the qualities of an unflappable machine of a player.

Discussing his June injury Roby said: "It is supposedly very rare – the physio and the doctor had never seen an injury like it, neither had my specialist and he is one of the best in the country.

"My finger had come out at the knuckle and gone sideways, but also the bone that tracks down into my hand to the metacarpel was also dislocated.

"It looked like it was broken with the bone coming through the skin in my hand, but luckily after 20 minutes they got it back in and it was not broken."

Roby played the subsequent games with it strapped up, and could not have a painkilling jab in it given that he needed to feel his hand as the player who handles the ball most in the team.

It has now settled down – and he never showed any sign of it affecting his performances.

Roby’s performances have remained first class – and with each passing year the former Blackbrook junior adds another string to his bow.

Much of the adaptation to Roby’s game has had to come about due to the developing interpretations of the ruck area.

It is no longer a case of the quicksilver number nine picking up and scooting against a backpedalling defence like it was when Roby injected himself into the team in 2005.

“Rucks are tighter these days from when I first started and there are more men in a tackle. It has been developing in recent years, there is less space every year and a slower ruck.

“So basically because we have less quick play the balls and there are less opportunities to run from a number nine point of view.

“It has been a progression and will carry on going that way unless they decide to make rule changes, but it does alter the way I play the game and I have to read the game a little bit better.

“That comes with experience, taking the right options and making sure I read the defensive line and get that right.

“It is all part and parcel of my job. The game is a lot more defence oriented, every team has a good defence and you have to try and break that down,” he said.

One aspect of the game that has been developing is one that used to frustrate former coaches – particularly Daniel Anderson – is his kicking game.

Often in the past he was too reluctant to put boot to ball. But now he is showing that it is another fine string to the Roby bow.

“There is still room for improvement and I could kick a lot more, but I am a lot more comfortable now kicking in a game and I know that is expected of me.

“With my general game sense and game management I have realised when, where and what sort of kick.

“The halves still do most of it, but every little helps but it is an area that I would like to improve on,” he said.

And after opting to miss out on last year's Four Nations Down Under, Roby has made it clear to the pretenders to his England number nine shirt that he wants it back this autumn.

"I’m definitely in the mix this year and if selected would love to play for England – it is three games against New Zealand – the number one ranked in the world and so hopefully I will be involved," he said.