Casualty Ward: Hurrell update, Wire’s big loss & Castleford and Wakefield triple blows

Keep up to date with the latest injury news in Casualty Ward, this week including Konrad Hurrell, Warrington, Leeds, Castleford and Wakefield.

Hurrell update

St Helens centre Konrad Hurrell missed Saturday’s televised Super League fixture with Salford due to a slight disc bulge in his neck.

Head coach Paul Wellens said the Tonga star will see a specialist next week to assess the extent of the injury.

“Konrad had a bit of an issue with neck pain in the week,” Wellens said after his side completed a comeback against the Red Devils. “He’s had a scan that’s revealed a slight disc bulge.

“What we need to do is send him to a specialist to get that seen and checked. As I’m sat here now, we’re hopeful that it’s not a big problem.”

Wakefield trio suffer knocks

Wakefield were dealt a couple of blows in their 26-6 home defeat to Hull on Thursday night.

Forward Matty Ashurst was taken to hospital after the game with a fracture in his finger, whilst Samisoni Langi and Jay Pitts both suffered ankle injuries.

Meanwhile, Trinity coach Mark Applegarth has revealed a potential timeframe for full-back Max Jowitt, who hasn’t played since February after suffering a freak ankle injury in training.

Applegarth said: “He is down for Catalans away, May 26, so around then.

“He’s back running now. He’s been doing all his straight-line running and that, so hopefully we can progress to changing direction and all that sort of stuff soon.

“Max is looking really good and really sharp and I can’t wait to get him back.

“Hopefully that should cause a few more selection headaches in terms of our attacking strike.”

Litten injury played down

Hull FC lost young full-back Davy Litten to an ankle knock in the closing stages of their win at Wakefield, but coach Tony Smith played down the seriousness of the injury.

He said: “Davy said he probably could have kept going. He’s never had an ankle problem before and he just twisted it.

“In his words, he just panicked a bit, but he doesn’t think it’s as bad as it may have looked.”

Castleford dealt triple blow

Castleford suffered injuries to three of their spine players in their 46-22 defeat to Catalans on Friday.

Niall Evalds (pectoral), Gareth Widdop (jarred ankle) and Jacob Miller (HIA) all left the action early.

Miller has been ruled out of this weekend’s Challenge Cup tie against Hull because of the concussion protocol.

Catalans sweat on duo

It was an impressive display from Catalans at Castleford, but their win came at a cost. Goal-kicker Adam Keighran was forced off the field with an ankle injury shortly after the break, whilst forward Manu Ma’u picked up a neck injury.

Dragons coach Steve McNamara said: “It was the second tackle of the second half when Adam picked up an ankle injury.

“He will be assessed and hopefully he will be OK, plus we will also assess Manu Ma’u who has got a problem with his neck.”

Lam provides update on sidelined pair

Leigh coach Adrian Lam provided an update on Jack Hughes and Joe Wardle, who currently remain in the treatment room.

Lam said: “Jack is anywhere between two and four weeks there, that’s his target at the moment.

“He brings a lot of experience to the team and he’s a leader and a voice, so we’ve missed him through the start of the season but we’re doing a pretty good job in handling it without him.

“The feedback with Joe is around late June to early July, so he is long-term with that pec.”

Hull KR nursing several injuries

Injuries haven’t been kind to Hull KR in recent weeks, and they’ve suffered a couple more in the last few days.

Half-back Rowan Milnes was set to fill the void left by Jordan Abdull, who was sidelined for up to six weeks with a quad injury. However, Milnes will also miss six weeks after suffering a broken hand in their win over Huddersfield 10 days ago.

Early last week, the Robins also announced that full-back Lachlan Coote would miss around a month of action with a hamstring injury.

And on Friday, influential hooker Matt Parcell left the field for a head injury assessment in their 21-14 defeat at Warrington. He left the action in the first half and didn’t return.

Wire suffer big loss

Warrington coach Daryl Powell has confirmed that back-rower Matty Nicholson will miss up to 10 weeks of action with a finer injury.

The 19-year-old will require surgery on a ruptured tendon in his ring finger.

Meanwhile, centre Connor Wrench played his first game in nine months on Saturday as he returned from an ACL injury to play for the club’s reserves.

Wright blows for Salford

Salford forward Shane Wright suffered a suspected broken ankle in their 26-12 defeat to St Helens on Saturday.

The Australian back-rower was helped from the field against St Helens. Another blow for the Red Devils saw hooker Andy Ackers fail a head injury assessment. The England hooker will miss their Challenge Cup tie with Huddersfield this Saturday.

Bentley sidelined

The Rhinos will be without key forward James Bentley will miss Saturday’s Challenge Cup tie against Wigan after failing a head injury assessment in their 40-18 win over the Warriors in Round 12 of Super League on Friday.

Ireland international James McDonnell missed Leeds’ clash with Wigan last week with a short-term arm injury.

Peet provides update on duo

Wigan winger Liam Marshall didn’t play in their defeat to Leeds on Friday night because of an abdominal injury.

Warriors coach Peet said: “It’s a bit of a tricky one, actually. A few times he felt like he was better. He was playing up into the international break through the pain.

“We thought the week off would do him good, but he he still was struggling a little bit.

“We won’t rush him. When he’s back, he’ll play.”

Peet also confirmed that prop Kaide Ellis is on schedule in his recovery and will look to make a return from a hamstring injury in the coming weeks.

Latest on Huddersfield forwards

Huddersfield coach Ian Watson says there is no return timeframe on Josh Jones, who is currently sidelined with concussion symptoms.

Watson said: “He’s still seeing specialists. We had a specialist who cleared him but then he came back with another couple of symptoms so he’s had to go and see someone else.

“We don’t know where he’s at, at this moment in time, so he’s just got to do that he’s doing and then the specialist will let him know where he’s at.”

Meanwhile, forward Owen Trout didn’t play in their 30-4 defeat to Leigh on Friday having suffered a knee injury against Hull KR the week previous.

Keep up to date with all the latest injury news in Super League with our Casualty Ward feature, out every Monday.

READ NEXT: 18th man used for only second time as Widnes suffer four concussions