DANNY MCGUIRE has revealed that Castleford Tigers star Joe Westerman spent a few days in Pinderfields hospital on a drip following a bad illness.
The veteran loose-forward missed the Tigers’ last Super League fixture against Salford Red Devils with illness, but it wasn’t known at the time just how serious the illness was.
Now Castleford boss McGuire has explained the situation.
“We had Westy (Joe Westerman) in hospital with illness at he time and we had a lot of injuries. We would have loved an intense week of practice but we couldn’t quite get out of it what we wanted,” McGuire said.
“Westy was in hospital for a few days and has lost a fair bit of weight. He missed the week off training and has only just been back in.
“He looks like he is finding his feet again but he was in a bad way. He was in Pinderfields for a few days on a drip but he is now available.”
Though Westerman is in line to return, Fletcher Rooney will be out for four months after suffering a serious quad injury.
And McGuire admits he is “devastated” with the injury.
“I’m devastated, he has been so good. He’s such a good young player with a brilliant attitude.
“He is a great kid, we were just in practice, he accelerated on to a ball and has done something to his quad.
“He will be out for four months. He will do everything right, he is already a very good professional at 19 years old.
“I’m sure he will be back and fighting fit in no time. He is a big loss for us, he was keeping everyone on their toes.
“We have to soldier on and give someone else an opportunity.”
McGuire revealed that Rowan Milnes will make his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury, as Tex Hoy switches to fullback.
“Rowan looks good out there on the field, and he will be able to take some pressure off Daejarn (Asi) in the way that he controls a game.
“It’s the strongest squad I’ve been able to put out. There have been minor hiccups through the week as there always is in preparation.
“The hardest part about being a coach is tell the players outside of the 17 that they aren’t playing. The best day of the week is game day and they all want to play.
“To deliver bad news is quite tough but it is part of the job. We have had to disappoint a few people this week.”