CASTLEFORD TIGERS have suffered another injury blow as Craig Lingard has confirmed a four-to-six week blow for fullback Luke Hooley.
Hooley left the field in Castleford’s 28-14 win over Batley Bulldogs last weekend, with Lingard explaining that it is a shoulder injury similar to what Rowan Milnes – who will miss this week’s clash against Leeds Rhinos with a hamstring injury – suffered earlier in the season.
“Rowan tweaked his hamstring against Batley, he did it in the first-half. We had a look at him at half-time and he kept it moving in the second-half but he has pulled up a little bit weak during training,” Lingard said.
“Danny Richardson will come in for him, we will look after Rowan to make sure he doesn’t get any worse.
“Danny trained fully last week as well. He was fit to play at Batley but because of the weight loss prior we didn’t want to rush him back too soon. We gave him an extra week;’s rest and he is all guns blazing now to play.
“We are waiting on a result on a scan for Luke Hooley and we aren’t 100 per cent sure at the moment. It might be an injury similar to Rowan Milnes in pre-season, it’s more likely to be around a month or five weeks.”
Lingard also revealed that Sylvester Namo has picked up a knee injury.
“Sylvester picked up a knee injury playing for the reserves. It shouldn’t be anything too significant, maybe or week or two.
“He is coming back from an ACL injury as he had missed ten months of last season. We want to make sure his return is staged and right for him and we don’t rush him back too soon as we did last time.”
Daniel Hindmarsh-Takyi, though included in the squad for Thursday’s clash, will not debut against Leeds.
“Dan (Hindmarsh-Takyi) will be in the 21-man squad so he won’t probably won’t make the 17 unless we get late withdrawals.
“We are making sure his integration is right but the middles we’ve got this week means he sits outside that at the moment in time.”
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