Wakefield Trinity half-back Jake Trueman looks set to miss ‘the next couple of games’ with injury after suffering symptoms of a delayed concussion.
However, Daryl Powell is hopeful that some of his key players can be deemed fit enough to return to the squad this weekend when Trinity face struggling Catalans Dragons at the DIY Kitchens Stadium.
Trueman left the field at half time in Wakefield’s 34-10 defeat to Hull KR last week, forcing Powell to shuffle his spine around and put Max Jowitt in the halves once again.
Powell said the playmaker had taken a knock to the shoulder when speaking at Craven Park after the game, but the head coach has now confirmed the former Castleford Tigers and Hull FC man suffered delayed symptoms of a head knock, meaning he will be stood down for at least 11 days as per the current policy.
“Truey won’t play,” he said. “He ended up having a few concussion protocol issues that we had to get him right.
“So, it will take potentially the next couple of games, but we’ll see because obviously we’ve got a shorter turn around for Hull.”
Powell added: “He had some sort of delayed concussion symptoms that came on as he was sat down during the second half, so he couldn’t go back on, and obviously it is what it is with the concussion stuff.”
Wakefield Trinity boss’ injury hope
However, the Wakefield boss is hoping some of his players will be able to return from injury this week, in what would come as a big boost.
“A couple of boys have had a look this week,” he added. “Caleb [Uele], Mike [McMeeken], Tommy Doyle have all done some training. We’ll wait and see how they pull up. We should have a few more options, we will wait and see later in the week looks like.”
An ideal replacement for Trueman would be Oliver Russell. The former Huddersfield Giants’ half is out with a hand injury, and won’t be fit enough to return this week, but a return date is nearing.
“He’s training at the moment,” the head coach said when asked about Russell. “He’s still got a decent amount of strapping on his thumb. But he’s training, so he just needs to play now.
“We need to get him where he’s comfortable with that thumb, which like I say was a big injury but he’s not too far away now.”
