Castleford boss Andy Last confirms double injury blow in Salford defeat

Castleford coach Andy Last revealed injury blows to captain Paul McShane and Mahe Fonua in their 42-10 defeat to Salford.

The Tigers couldn’t back up their win over Leeds at Magic Weekend as the Red Devils ran in eight tries to take the two points.

Castleford were dealt the double injury blow in the first half, with hooker McShane suffering a suspected fractured arm and was then taken to Pinderfields Hospital for further treatment.

Fonua, meanwhile, left the action for a head injury assessment which he failed. Castleford don’t have a game next week due to it being the Challenge Cup quarter-finals so if Fonua passes his return to play protocol, he should be available to face Warrington in a fortnight.

Andy Last on double injury blow and Castleford’s defeat to Salford

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Last said he was disappointed with the result whilst praising young debutant Aaron Willis.

He said: “I’m disappointed for the result and for the scoreline to blow out like it did.

“We had a morale-boosting victory over Leeds and then, on Monday afternoon, the injury report comes in and we get the news that six of that starting 17 are not going to be playing against Salford.

“It was always going to be a challenge and then to lose McShane and Fonua for 60 minutes of the game to go made it a real uphill task, but the lads didn’t throw the towel in.

“Aaron did a good job after coming on and to give him the last 20 minutes of the game will do him the world of good.

“But Salford are a really slick team and throw some real shapes at you.”

Castleford will aim to get their fourth win of the Super League season on the board when they welcome Warrington to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Friday, June 23 (8pm).

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