Castleford camp hit with illness ahead of Challenge Cup tie

Castleford coach Andy Last has revealed that his side are dealing with illness in camp ahead of Sunday’s Challenge Cup clash with Hull.

Last admitted they have been limited to what they can do in regards to training in the build up to Sunday’s home tie against Hull.

“Having 21 players has been the challenge this week,” Last said in his weekly press conference. “We’ve had a bit of illness in camp.

“On Tuesday, we had to cancel the afternoon session because we didn’t want players in close proximity in the gym, wrestle area and video room so we just did a field session and asked them to go away and do a bit of work on their own in regards to their weights and gym programme.

“Their wellness markers in which they fill in are still quite low considering its a Thursday. You’d normally like to see those wellness markers a little bit higher than what they are after a day off, so there’s a bit of illness and a bit of cough, cold and diarrhoea running through the camp. It has been lingering for a couple of weeks now.

“We’ll get players isolating away from it and then we think we’ve managed to get away from it, but then a couple of days later someone else ends up going down with it. It is lingering a bit longer than we’d like it to.

“We’re doing everything we can to try and contain it and make sure those who are affected aren’t in close proximity with the rest of the squad.

“It’s been a bit of a challenge but that’s rugby league. Every team has these periods where they do it tough in terms of bodies, injuries, viruses and illnesses and we’re just doing it a little bit tough at the moment so we’ll just crack on. The 17 blokes who will enter the field on Sunday, I’m sure they’ll give a good account of themselves.”

Castleford duo cup tied

Last also confirmed that wingers Elliot Wallis and Jason Qareqare will be unavailable on Sunday due to them being cup tied.

He said: “We’ve got some issues in our outside-backs so that has been a bit of a Challenge Cup and some cup tied.

“Elliot Wallis is cup tied from an earlier round, he played for the Midlands against Hull Dockers so he’s cup tied and that’s a bit of a kick in the guts for him and myself.

“I made the decision on Jason Qareqare to play at Bradford and that’s obviously hurting us now because we’ve picked up some injuries so that’s a challenge.

“The guys who go out there and perform will be experienced and will be able to do a good job for us. I can’t worry too much about the guys who are not available, we’ve got to focus on the guys who are and make sure they are ready to play and put in their best efforts against Hull on Sunday.”

The Challenge Cup sixth round tie between Castleford and Hull takes place at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Sunday afternoon, 3pm kick-off, live on BBC Two.

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