Hull FC trio “touch and go” for Castleford Tigers clash

Hull FC take on Castleford Tigers in their first game of the 2023 Super League season this week as they begin a new era under new boss Tony Smith who in turn is taking on the custodian of Hull FC’s last great era Lee Radford.

As the two get ready for what will be an exciting clash between two sides hoping to return to the play-offs in 2023, Tony Smith has confirmed that star forward Ligi Sao is “touch and go” for Round One.

“Ligi will be touch and go for the first game,” Smith said to the club website.

“It’s taken a while for that dead leg to bleed. The bruise is all coming out now. It was a significant one. Sometimes we think a dead leg isn’t that much and sometimes they’re not and you can run them off but this one is a bit more serious than that. It’s very tender – there’s certainly been an impact there.

“We’re hopeful that he will be fine for the first game. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll access it this week but he’s got a bit of time on his hands. He’s desperate to be ready.”

Meanwhile, skipper Carlos Tuimavave and forward Andre Savelio are in a similar position:

“Carlos and Andre are in the same boat in that regard. They’re both putting their hand up for Round One. We’ll assess them again before we make any decisions.

“We’ve trained with pretty much the same team that ran out at Wakefield. Whether there are any tweaks to that, we’ll decide later in the week. They are the most three likely options to play. Whether we change it or not we’ll see.”