Huddersfield Giants winger Sam Halsall will miss the next three to four months with an Achilles injury, in what is a bitter blow for the former Wigan Warriors man.
Halsall went down untouched in the Giants’ defeat to Leeds Rhinos on Friday night, something that is always a bad sign when it comes to injuries.
Interim boss Liam Finn said post-match that he was hoping for the issue to be his calf rather than his Achilles, but that has proven not to be the case.
The outside back will now miss the next 12-16 weeks as he recover, however the positive for Halsall is that Finn expects him not to require surgery.
Halsall was making his return to the field in the game against the Rhinos after struggling with separate injury issues throughout the opening few rounds of the season.
However, he only managed to last 15 minutes before he was assisted off the pitch with the help of the physios.
Finn spoke to the press this week and discussed the wingman’s blow, saying: “It’s massive. It’s massive for us as a team and a club, but obviously really disappointing for him.
He’s devastated. [He’s] just came back from injury, was playing really well before he got injured the first time, and in his first game back, he does that, so yes, gutted for Sam.
“He’s a really good pro, really diligent bloke, so I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to come back bigger and stronger.”
Huddersfield Giants interim boss issues Harry Rushton update
Halsall was one of two returnees to be named in last week’s 21-man squad, with Harry Rushton the other who could have made his comeback.
Given the winger’s situation, resting Rushton seems to have been the best idea, however the coach revealed he could return this week.
Finn said: “He was medically fit to play, but training-wise, he’d only just got back into training and it would have been a little bit higher risk than normal.
“It was just sensible to give him another week’s worth of training and get a little bit more contact and a little bit more running into his legs.
“He could have played last week, although it was still relatively short time, if that makes sense, of him being available. So, the smarter thing was to push it out another week.”
Tanguy Zenon was in the same position, having picked up a knock in training, whilst fellow centre Connor Wrench is still a week or two away from a return.
Taane Milne is free to play after passing is HIA, however a rare ruling saw him unable to return to the pitch after his head test was complete.
Finn explained: “No, he didn’t fail it. He wasn’t wearing the [protective concussion] mouthguard.
“If you’re not wearing the mouthguard and you go off for a HIA assessment, regardless of whether you pass it or not, you can’t come back on in that game because they haven’t got the data.
“That was obviously an error, the fact that we couldn’t get him back on the field, but he passed his head test so he’s free to play this week.”
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