Castleford Tigers coach Luke Robinson has revealed an unknown flaw regarding the loan moves of two Leigh Leopards players.
Castleford currently have Lazarus Vaalepu and Ben McNamara on loan from Adrian Lam’s side, but the club are only allowed to use them in the second half of the week.
The pair both train with Leigh at the beginning of the week and will join Castleford in the second-half, meaning that training time is limited.
With this week being a Thursday game, it means that the duo have only been available to the Tigers in today’s [Wednesday] captain’s run, and tomorrow’s trip to Bradford Bulls.
Robinson took to the media to preview the Bulls game and highlighted some of the issues that this causes, especially for McNamara, who features in the spine.
He said: “It’s been a little bit difficult for ‘Ben Mac’. When you’re playing in the spine, it’s very difficult to build combinations… we only get them for a limited amount of time, so it makes it a little bit more difficult, especially when you’re a spine member, just to build combinations and a little bit of flow within your unit.
“It’s a little bit easier for Lazarus, it’s a little bit easier when you’re in the middle – the job doesn’t change that much from team to team. Run hard, tackle hard, so it’s probably a little bit easier for him.
“…That’s the prerogative of being the parent club. They’re not our player. A lot of clubs do it now. When I were at Huddersfield, I took Danny Richardson for example. Hull KR wanted him there for their main training days, and you just got them whenever you could really. That’s part and parcel of the loan deal.
Castleford Tigers squad update as boss assesses Krystian Mapapalangi chances
Castleford did have three Leigh players on loan, but Keanan Brand has been recalled by Lam, ahead of this week’s meeting against St Helens.
Asked how much of a blow that was, Robinson said: “It’s his parent club, they have the prerogative on who he plays for, and he’s their player at the end of the day.
“He’s done a job for us. We’ve been down on numbers, but it puts us a little bit thin on the ground in that area.”
Brand’s exit comes at a bad time, with fellow outside back Krystian Mapapalangi missing the last two games due to injury. Robinson explained his chances of returning.
“Potentially, he’s trained today. He’s got a little bit of a shoulder issue, but we’re just seeing how he came through today.
“We’ll make a call on that later on, really. He’s gone through a bit of testing. He’s come through it alright. We’re going to give him the rest of tonight, tomorrow morning, just to see where he’s at.”
Despite Tylor Sharpe and Alfie Lindsay in the squad, the assistant coach said it would be unlikley that either will feature.
