Castleford Tigers receive injury boost - and new setback

Castleford Tigers have had good and bad news on injuries to two key players.
Liam Watts. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.Liam Watts. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.
Liam Watts. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.

Fears England prospect Liam Watts was facing a long lay-off have proved unfounded, but star signing Sosaia Feki's debut has been put back on hold.

Coach Daryl Powell revealed hand damage suffered by front-rower Watts in last week’s win over Hull KR is “not as bad as we thought”.

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He confirmed: “He has got an injury to his tendons, his finger has dislocated out the bottom.

Sosaia Feki. Picture by Tony Johnson.Sosaia Feki. Picture by Tony Johnson.
Sosaia Feki. Picture by Tony Johnson.

“He will be okay, if he doesn’t play on Friday [against Warrington Wolves] we hope it is only a one-week injury and not the six to eight weeks we feared it might be.”

Winger Feki joined Tigers from Cronulla Sharks in pre-season and has yet to make his competitive debut.

“He tore his calf again on Sunday morning,” Powell revealed . “It was a high-intensity session and he has got a bit of an issue there.

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“I am massively disappointed for him, he was devastated on Sunday morning when that happened. We are disappointed we can’t get him in the team yet, but having said that, James Clare is playing outstanding rugby league at the moment alongside Derrell Olpherts.

“It is tough on Sosaia, but we will look after him and he is going to have a great career here. It is hard to say at this moment [when he’ll be available] because when you re-injure something it causes a few more issues and you have got to make sure it is right.”

Watts, along with clubmate Paul McShane, has been invited to new England coach Shaun Wane's first get-together of his potential squad for this year's Ashes series against Australia.

The players will meet at Old Trafford on Monday, March 23 and Powell is delighted to see two Castleford men involved.

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"Wattsy played for England in the World Cup nines lasts year, didn't get in the Great Britain squad, but has been in and around it," Powell said.

"Paul McShane is the one I am most pleased for.

"It has been a bit of journey for Paul to get in and around and he has been on the edges of the squad recently.

"He looks like a genuine world-class hooker at the moment with the way he is playing.

"He just needs to retain that standard that he has set himself and both those players are high quality."

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Powell added: "We have got other players who have not played as much, Adam Milner played a couple of years back and has had an awesome pre-season.

"There are a few in the Knights squad there with Truey [Jake Trueman], Danny [Richardson] and Mike [McMeeken] who will hopefully have big seasons and progress and be in and around it at the end of the season against the Australians.

"It is great when you get your players involved and I think if we continue our form throughout the season we will be looking at more players to get in there."