CASTLEFORD TIGERS have suffered a devastating blow to captain Paul McShane.
The Tigers’ captain left the field early against Salford Red Devils last Friday night clutching his arm.
Now, Castleford head physiotherapist Matty Crowther has given an update on the injury with bad news confirmed.
“Macca has a fractured forearm so he will need an operation and will see a specialist tomorrow morning. From that, they will make a prognosis but to make an estimate on how long he will be out for, it will probably be around eight weeks and we will be working closely with him to aid his recovery.”
Tigers centre Mahe Fonua was another casualty from the Salford game after he was forced off the field due to a concussion and was not able to return to the contest after failing his head injury assessment on the day.
“Mahe has got to go and see a specialist with his concussion from the other day because he’s had a couple in the last year. How long he will be out will be dependent on what the specialist’s prognosis is,” Crowther continued.
Forward George Lawler was included in the 21-man squad ahead of the Red Devils game but was absent from Castleford’s matchday line-up on the night.
Matty disclosed that the 27-year-old will, unfortunately, miss around a month of action through suffering a quad strain.
“George picked up a quad injury during captain’s run before the game on Friday and we will be working hard to get him the support he needs to get back as soon as possible.”
Another member of the squad who suffered a setback in the build-up to last week’s game was youngster Sam Hall who took a blow to his knee in the days leading up to the game. The Tigers are continuing to assess the injury day by day.
Crowther disappointingly confirmed that Callum McLelland has suffered a further setback in his recovery.
“Unfortunately, Cal has hit another stumbling block on his return. We are currently assessing him.”
Both Elliot Wallis and Niall Evalds were recently subjected to knocks to their pectorals over the past few weeks and Crowther outlined that he is hopeful of a speedy recovery for young winger Wallis, though Evalds looks to be out longer.
“Elliot has got an injury to his pec, and he will see a specialist on Wednesday just to diagnose and see where he is at. It’s a funny sort of injury so we are hoping it will just be a rest period and some rehab before going back into it. Sometimes they can be complicated depending on where the tear is for the healing process, so we’ll see how he gets on at the specialist on Wednesday.”
“Niall is good. He’s just had his first week post-operation after rupturing his pectoral and there’s been no complication with the surgery. He’s looking at around being a good few months away so it will be touch and go whether he will be back for the final run-in of the season for us.”