Injury rules ex-Leeds Rhinos man out of Castleford Tigers' derby v former club but key player returns

Full-back Luke Hooley, who is among six Rhinos old boys in Tigers’ full-time squad, suffered a shoulder injury after coming off the bench in the second half of last week’s Betfred Challenge Cup win over another of his former sides, Batley Bulldogs. Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Tuesday), Tigers coach Craig Lingard said: “We are waiting for the result of a scan. It might be similar to what Rowan Milnes did in the friendlies, which kept him out for four or five weeks.

“We are hoping it’s not massively long-term, but we don’t think it'll be a week or two. It’s more likely, I would imagine, to be around a month.”

Hooley joined Tigers from Rhinos last autumn after scoring four tries in eight appearances during his only season at Leeds. Lingard admitted he has been working hard after some below-par performances.

“He has come under a bit of pressure in the squad the last few weeks,” Lingard said. “Jack Broadbent has started the last couple of games and we’ve seen a bit of a change in Luke - his intensity in training has risen.

“I’ve had a chat with Luke and he admitted himself his performances weren’t to the standard he wanted them to be at. That competition for places, with Jack dropping into the full-back role, gave him a bit of a lift; he was training hard to get back into the side and it’s disappointing for Luke he has picked up this injury.”

Stand-off Milnes is another casualty from last week’s game and will be replaced by Danny Richardson who is available after concussion. Lingard said: “Rowan tweaked his hamstring against Batley.

“He did it in the first half; we had a look at him at half-time and he went out and kept it moving. He said it was fine, but he has pulled up a little bit weak after that game so there’s no point risking him. Danny was 18th man and he will come in for Rowan. We’ll look after Rowan and make sure there’s no long-term damage to him.”