Ex-Leeds Rhinos man Callum McLelland 'unlikely' to play for Castleford Tigers as injury nightmare continues

McLelland rejoined Tigers ahead of last season, but has remained on the injury list after suffering a ruptured patella tendon in his final game for Rhinos, away to Wakefield Trinity on August 30, 2021.

After missing the whole of 2022, McLelland hoped to be back on the field early this season, but coach Andy Last today (Thursday) said it is “unlikely” the 23-year-old will play before his contract expires in November.

McLelland has not been offered a new deal and Last admitted he has huge sympathy for the play-maker who was in Castleford’s academy before switching to rugby union in Scotland and then joining Leeds.

“He signed while he was injured and the club honoured their agreement and took him on in the hope he’d be able to get back to playing at the level he was capable of,” Last stated.

“That unfortunately, in the couple of years he has been with us, hasn’t materialised. He is still confident he can get back on the training field; he is in rehab and running and using this time to get himself fully right, fully fit, with a view to potentially getting something elsewhere.

“It is disappointing for him and a real shame for us, but unfortunately that’s the nature of our sport. Some things don’t work out and unfortunately it hasn’t quite worked out for Callum.”

The knee injury has led to other complications, Last revealed. “He has tweaked a bit of a quad, which is an attachment to the patella tendon,” he said.

“Every time he gets to the point where you’re thinking we can crank it up a little bit, unfortunately he’s not able to tolerate the load.

“He has had a couple of setbacks through no fault of his own. It is a very, very tough injury to get over. When one thing breaks it weakens something elsewhere.

“He is on the road to recovery, back running, but it is a slow process. We want to support him and make sure the club does the right thing by him in terms of getting him back to a level where he feels he can play.”

Last added: “It has been awful. He has spent a fair bit of time on his own and feels he hasn’t been able to contribute.

“I know he was extremely passionate about making a better contribution than he has done, but these things happen in sport.

“He has had a tough couple of years, but he has ripped into his rehab and hopefully he will get back on the field and be able to perform soon.”

Tigers will be without Kenny Edwards because of illness when they meet Catalans Dragons at the Jungle on Friday.

Muizz Mustapha, Suaia Matagi, Liam Watts, Brad Martin and Luis Johnson are all in contention for a recall.

Castleford Tigers: from Evalds, Turner, Faraimo, Widdop, Miller, Lawler, McShane, Griffin, Mellor, Westerman, Massey, Milner, Broadbent, Mustapha, Matagi, Robb, Martin, Wallis, Hall, Watts, Johnson.

Catalans Dragons: from Mourgue, Davies, Keighran, Pearce, McMeeken, McIlorum, Bousquet, Whitley, Seguier, Garcia, Goudemand, Navarrete, Rouge, Chan, Romano, Ikuvalu, Dezaria, Johnstone, Ma’u, Tomkins, Castano.

Referee: Aaron Moore (Wigan).

Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.