England blow, Saints down on troops & Wigan packmen sidelined – Casualty Ward

Keep up to date with the latest injury news in Casualty Ward, this week including England, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan.

England blow

Warrington hooker Daryl Clark looks set to miss England’s test against France this weekend.

The 30-year-old started at loose forward in Warrington’s 28-6 defeat at St Helens on Friday, but left the action in the first half with a knee injury.

Wire coach Daryl Powell said: “I don’t think he’ll be fit for that (the international fixture), I’m not 100% he’ll be fit for the week after against Wakefield. He just needs to get himself right and we’ll look after him these next couple of weeks and see where he’s at.”

It comes as a blow to Warrington and Clark, who has started the season in tremendous form.

Saints down on troops

The champions enjoyed an impressive 28-6 win over Warrington on Thursday despite missing several regular first team players.

England internationals Tommy Makinson and Mark Percival were both included in Paul Wellens’ 21-man squad, but didn’t feature.

On Makinson, Wellens said: “I don’t think he’s going to be out long-term. It’s almost like a dead leg, but very close to the knee. So there’s a lot of swelling there and it’s not settling down as quickly as we’d like.”

On Percival, Wellens said: “He picked up a bit of a hamstring strain in training this week. He’s gone for scans, but we don’t know the full extent at this stage.

“It’s not going to be a quick fix, but I can’t give a definitive timeframe. But I don’t think we’ll see Mark Percival in the near future.”

Wigan packmen sidelined

Wigan were enjoying a relatively injury-free campaign until the last fortnight. England prop Mike Cooper suffered a season-ending injury in their Good Friday win over St Helens.

And the latest blows have come to his fellow front-rowers Brad Singleton and Kaide Ellis.

Singleton, 30, will miss around two months of action after limping off the field in their win at Warrington two weeks ago.

Ellis, meanwhile, will miss up to four weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in training prior to their 22-6 win over Wakefield on Sunday afternoon.

There is good news for the Warriors though. Ryan Hampshire will pull on the Cherry and White jersey for the first time since re-signing for the club this weekend in a reserves match as he continues his recovery from an ACL injury he suffered last June.

Castleford lose key man

The Tigers were dealt a blow when Joe Westerman was forced from the field in their 12-7 defeat to Hull KR on Friday night.

The former England international left the action with a head injury following a collision with Hull KR forward Kane Linnett.

Westerman could be back though for their next game against Leigh on May 5 if he passes his return to play concussion protocol.

Meanwhile, former England international Gareth Widdop missed the Hull KR clash as he continues his recovery from an illness he picked up a couple of weeks ago.

Tigers coach Andy Last said: “He’s going to be okay, but he lost a fair bit of weight in that illness he had a couple of weeks back so we are monitoring that and hopefully he’ll be back soon.”

Asiata nursing nerve injury

Leigh captain John Asiata put in a colossal performance in their 20-6 win over Leeds on Friday night.

But the Leopards captain sustained a pinched nerve in the match, which saw him leave the field in the second half before returning to the action.

Speaking to Love Rugby League after the game, Leigh coach Adrian Lam said: “It’s one of those ones where he’ll need these two weeks off, certainly next week at least, where he will get that right. It takes a couple of weeks, it is quite painful.”

There is good news for the Leopards though. Keanan Brand is recovering well after having a double hernia operation after his World Cup campaign with Ireland last year.

Lam said: “He’s flying at the moment. Once he finished the show with Love Island, coming back into training it was important he built a six-week loading block of everything he missed whilst he was away so he’s getting close to being in consideration.”

Update on key Wakefield pair

Wakefield coach Mark Applegarth provided the latest on full-back Will Dagger and forward Kelepi Tanginoa after the pair missed their 22-6 defeat at Wigan on Sunday.

Dagger was initially named in the starting line-up, but pulled out in the warm-up with a back injury.

On Dagger, Applegarth said: “He managed to train on Thursday and Friday, so he put his hand up and said he was good. But in the warm-up he went in to a collision and started feeling some shooting pains down his side so we had to pull him out.”

On Tanginoa, Applegarth said: “As tempting as it is to play him, he was 50/50 for today, he maybe could have got through it.

“He was 50/50 the last time we played Wigan and if you remember he came off after 45 seconds so a bit of common sense kicked in for me.

“As much as I’m desperate to get him back out on the field because he’s a devastating player for us, that extra week or so will be massively beneficial for him.

“As long as we don’t have any more hiccups, you should see Kelepi back in contention for that Warrington game.”

Sezer latest

Leeds lost half-back Aidan Sezer midway through their 20-6 defeat at Leigh on Friday.

Rhinos coach Rohan Smith said: “At the back end of the first half he was struggling to get around with a quad issue.

“He couldn’t remember a moment but he couldn’t get in to a proper stride. They’ve assessed him, they’re not sure what it is but he isn’t right.”

Addy setback

Salford coach Kurt Haggerty has revealed the Red Devils will be without versatile forward Danny Addy for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

Haggerty told Love Rugby League: “He’s not good. I think with Danny we are looking around six weeks.

“It is just setback after setback with Dan, so we’re all sticking by Dan and helping him get through these tough moments.”

Hull boost

Australian full-back Tex Hoy is expected to be fit for Hull’s next game against Wigan on Thursday, May 4.

Hull coach Tony Smith said their 20-14 win over Huddersfield on Sunday came a couple of days too soon for Hoy, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

However, Fijian back Mitieli Vulikijapani could be set for a ‘significant operation’ on his knee in the near future.

Smith said: “We need to decide whether he goes down the rehab route again, or if he’ll have a significant operation where he would effectively have a new ACL created.”

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

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