Daryl Powell expects Mason Lino to be fit enough to return to action for Wakefield Trinity next week.
Lino missed out on last week’s win over Huddersfield Giants with a slight hamstring issue and he won’t feature on Saturday evening either when Powell takes his Wakefield outfit across the Pennines to Warrington Wolves.
Jack Sinfield will play in his place, with the youngster keen to establish himself at Super League level with the Trin. And, if things go well for the former Leeds Rhinos man at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Powell could have a selection dilemma on his hands ahead of next Thursday’s game with Hull FC at Belle Vue.
That’s because Lino is expected to step back into the picture next week, with the head coach giving an injury update on the scrum-half.
“He’ll be alright next week,” the Wakefield Trinity boss said. “I thought Jack was really good last week and Mason is still not quite ready.
“He’s getting moving again now so I’d expect him to be OK next week unless he has a setback.”
Lino is one of three players to drop out of Powell’s 21-man squad this week, with Lachlan Walmsley and Tray Lolesio also missing out on inclusion. Caius Faatili, Jordan Williams and Jayden Myers have stepped into the fold in their place.
“He’s had a grumbling knee, he missed a lot of pre-season to be honest and he’s still getting a little bit of trouble with that,” Powell said on Walmsley. “We’ve got Jayden Myers coming back into contention.
“I’m using a lot of wingers at the moment and there’s different reasons for that. Pratty coming in was an obvious one, Tom Johnstone will be back pretty soon, and there’s spots up for grabs there. I want players to nail their spots down, which I don’t feel has been done yet.”
Explaining Lolesio’s absence, Powell added: “He’s playing reserves. His partner gave birth to a baby and then he got ill straight after. He just needs to play.
“Jordan Williams played reserves last week and we’re trying to keep players tuned in really and make sure they get game time rather than going straight into Super League action which is pretty tough. It’s just trying to manage the group to make sure they’re ready and if they need extra work they can play reserves when they’re coming back.”
