Daryl Powell’s Castleford Tigers have done it tough in 2021 as both COVID and injuries have taken their toll, but there might finally be light at the end of the tunnel for the West Yorkshire club.
With as many as ten set to return from the side that lost valiantly against Huddersfield last Monday, Powell is able to field a side that actually has recognised halfbacks – although one of them will not be Jake Trueman.
“Truey wont play he’s got a serious issue with his back which may require surgery we’re just going through that process at the minute and Liam Watts has extended COVID protocol to get through so he’s not available this week, Powell said.
“It’s the same issue with Truey, but I think we’re coming to the point where that will get resolved.
“It’s taking a long time to come to an understanding of what it is happening to his back so there will be further news that comes out in due course.”
One player that definitely will be out will be Michael Shenton – who suffered a severe facial injury last week.
“We had 15 players with COVID last week so it’s going to look completely different – obviously Michael Shenton got a really bad injury last week so it’s really disappointing.
“He will drop out and wait and see whether he will play again this season, hopefully he can – he’s got fractures to his cheekbones and his jaw so it was a pretty significant whack to the face.
“it looks bad, it’s a 4-6 week injury and he’s got another appointment on Monday.
“We get a lot of players coming back into contention and we’ve actually got halfbacks so it’s a good opportunity to back playing well with some of our strongest players on the field.”
