Huddersfield sweat on scans after new signing picks up injury

Huddersfield are currently awaiting scan results on new recruit Sam Halsall, who left the field early during their pre-season clash against Castleford.

Halsall, 21, was forced from the pitch just minutes into his first appearance for the club. Ian Watson’s side went on to fall to a 48-10 defeat at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

The youngster made the switch from Wigan during the off-season on a three-year deal, making the move alongside team-mates Jack Bibby and Jake Bibby. His transfer was part of a swap deal that saw Jake Wardle head the other way to the DW Stadium.

Speaking at the official Super League launch in Manchester on Thursday, Huddersfield head coach Watson confirmed the news.

Jake Connor is the only other player to currently be recovering from injury, according to Watson. However, the full-back may return to action sooner than expected as he continues to recover from knee surgery.

“Sam Halsall picked up a little bit of an injury in the early minutes against Castleford,” Watson told Love Rugby League.

“He came off after about two or three minutes. He got a little bit of an MRI scan on it yesterday (Wednesday) to see where he is. But everybody else is ready to go.

“We thought it might be a little bit of a groin issue. We’re not sure and we don’t want to diagnose anything wrong.

“We wanted to get the MRI, get the results through and see where we go from there.

“It’s obviously not nice for him when he’s just kind of come in and wanted to put his best foot forward against Castleford and we’ve had to take him off so early.”

Bright future for Sam Halsall

Despite the setback, Watson has predicted a bright future for the versatile player, who could potentially play in any position across the back-line.

To date, Halsall has made 16 Super League appearances, making his debut with Wigan back in 2020 against St Helens.

“He’s got some ability,” Watson continued.

“He was playing at full-back in training for us the other day. Sam could play six if we wanted him to as well.

“He’s one of them guys who just loves playing. He’s going to add to us.

“The more players we’ve got like that who can just drop into other positions, it’s better than somebody who says I can’t play this side I can only play on the left, for example. That’s no good to you that. That doesn’t help you out as a squad.”

Huddersfield open their 2023 campaign a week later than everyone else due to St Helens’ involvement in the World Club Challenge.

Instead, the Giants face Warrington in the last weekend of February in round two.

“Everything has been good for us,” Watson said.

“We’ve had a little bit of a different pre-season because some people came back later than normal, and with us not starting in round one, but in round two. Right at this moment in time, we’re still in pre-season. So the boys have been doing it pretty tough at the moment.

“It gives us an extra week to work on our processes and our timings and our combinations with some players as well.

“In some ways, it’s been a little bit of a benefit to us.”

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