IN case you hadn’t noticed, there has been a great deal of debate about the number of cards and bans handed out from Super League Round One.
13 men were handed yellow or red cards with those subsequently banned numbering double figures.
One of those was Castleford Tigers prop Liam Watts who was suspended for four matches after being charged with a Grade E Head Contact on Wigan Warriors’ Tyler Dupree.
Now Castleford head coach Craig Lingard has revealed who could replace Watts in the Tigers’ line-up, with Rowan Milnes expected to return from injury as well.
“We’ve got people on the sidelines like Albert Vete, Samy Kibula, Brad Martin and Cain Robb and they didn’t play last week,” Lingard said.
“Rowan Milnes comes back into the squad, he has come through from fitness tests today. There is the potential for one of those five to come in but we haven’t decided the 17 yet.
“There won’t be too many changes from last week. I was more impressed with how they played before the red card.
“We were leading 4-2 ten minutes before half-time against the Super League champions. It was a real good effort to play in excess of 50 minutes against a team of so much quality like Wigan. It showed the togetherness and desire was there.”
Castleford go up against Salford Red Devils on Sunday, with the Tigers boss giving his verdict on Paul Rowley’s men.
“They are going through their own transition period, losing the players they did in the off-season. They are learning their own combinations.
“Looking at the weather forecast it’s not going to be conditions, it’s about a 90 per cent chance of rain! It’s going to be an attrititional battle.
“We need to make sure our attitude is good and out-work Salford where we can. We know they like to throw the ball around so we will have to watch that.”
Lingard also gave an update on new signing Daniel Hindmarsh-Takyi and when he could debut for the club after joining the Tigers last month.
“Daniel is finding his feet within the squad and learning about the players and systems we play. He doesn’t look too far off being in contention.
“We want to get at least a couple of weeks of training in him and make sure that we don’t push him too soon.
“I think he will fit in with the game he has got. He makes some great metres after contact and he is tough to put down.
“He has got some size about him. You have to make sure you have players with different skill sets and he offers us something different.”
Lingard also gave a prediction as to when Castleford fans can expect to see fellow new signing Sylvester Namo following his recovery from ACL surgery.
“He has progressed more in training with the players but he is not back into full training. We are looking at mid to the end of March which will take him to about ten months post surgery.”
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