Huddersfield Giants Head Coach Ian Watson has given an injury update on key players Jermaine McGillvary and Luke Yates with both players expected to miss at least four weeks, yet there are fears that club legend McGillvary could be set to miss the rest of the season which may mean he’s played his last match in a Giants jersey.
Both players were taken off in Huddersfield’s victory over Hull FC last week, and speaking to the media today, Watson gave more information on the extent of their injuries. McGillvary was taken off due to a hamstring injury, and Yates was withdrawn with a ankle issue.
On McGillvary, Watson said: “I think it’s a little bit of a confusing one because his scan wasn’t as clear as what we wanted it to be. It could be something between four weeks and could go up to maybe even the end of the season, really.
“We’ve got to get it re-scanned again in three weeks time to know exactly where he’s at, so fingers crossed that’s a good sign and that it’ll only be that three weeks will clear it up and then maybe it’s only about four weeks there.”
“He’s presenting really well, so fingers crossed it’s not that bad.”
McGillvary’s current deal at Huddersfield expires at the end of this season, and with Watson confirming that the winger is playing for a new deal it seems this injury could hamper that, with one question speculating if fans had seen the last instance of the 35-year-old playing for the club he’s been at all his career.
“We probably don’t want to deal with that at the moment. We want him to hopefully get back, but you can never say never. I’ve just been speaking to Jermaine this morning about it, and we’re just fingers crossed that in three weeks it comes back with good news so that he can play.
“I know he wants to obviously play again, whether that’s now or potentially next year for Huddersfield so we’ll deal with that as we go forward.”
The former Great Britain and England winger has been in fine form since his return to the side, and has scored some crucial tries to help the Giants upturn in form. Prior to his injury last Thursday, he crossed the whitewash for his 249th career try.
Watson also gave an update on Luke Yates too, saying the club have a ‘clear picture’ on his status.
“Luckily for us, normally when it’s like a syndesmosis, you do it pretty badly, but Luke’s had a tight rope in there from a previous injury so that seems to have held it all together,” said Watson.
“So he’s actually fracture free, there’s nothing in there, so his hopefully should be between four to six weeks. Four is probably the best case scenario. Six weeks might be the worst, but we’ll see where we get to. He’s pretty positive this morning anyway.”
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