Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr has given an update on Krystian Mapapalangi following the blow to the head he took last weekend against St Helens.
Mapapalangi was hit high and late by Kyle Feldt in the second half of the Tigers’ Challenge Cup defeat to the Saints last Saturday and subsequently failed a head injury assessment. Speaking after the game, Carr confirmed that the centre, who has been the Tigers’ most impressive performer this season, was not in a good way with medical staff showing concern for the outside back.
However, concussion symptoms eased in the hours after the full-time whistle, Carr has confirmed, and Mapapalangi is now on track to feature next week against Bradford Bulls at Wheldon Road.
“He’s doing OK, the symptoms were OK post-match,” Carr said in his press conference this morning. “We kept a close eye on him for the 48 hours following the match but he’s following the protocol now.
“Next Thursday we play against Bradford which is the 12th day, so it’ll be our plan to get him back for that game.
“He’s played awesome at the start of the year. It’s a tough loss for us but we’ll have to get on with it. It’s next man up mentality.”
On the general health of his squad, Carr added: “There’s a few people we have to get a check on in the next 24 hours.
“We have a squad of 21 there and everyone knows they could be called upon at any time. There’s a few knocks here and there amongst our squad but full confidence in any of those guys to come in and do a job.”
One player that could come into the side this week is Semi Valemei, who could be set to make his debut for the club after arriving from the NRL over the winter.
Valemei picked up a hamstring injury in January and has spent the last two months building his way back up to full fitness and Carr is hopeful that he could feature against Warrington Wolves this week.
“To this point, we have another training session to get through so we’ll see how he gets through that. He’s shaping up like he will be available for selection,” he added.
“[I want him to] be the best version of him, that’s why we brought him here. He’s an elite athlete, a talented player and he’s played nearly 50 NRL games. He’ll bring that experience and he’s a real competitor and I want to see him go out and compete really hard and take every opportunity he’s given.
“He has a strong carry, he’s good out of backfield and if he suits up for us, that’s what we’ll be relying on him for.”
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