Wales hopeful over Frizell

Wales are hoping that Tyson Frizell from St George Illawarra Dragons will be their 24th squad member for the Rugby League World Cup that kicks off this month.

Wales take on Italy at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the opening day of the tournament on Saturday 26th October that also sees England face Australia.

Frizell, who turned 22 years old today, made his debut for Wales against Ireland in 2011. He then went on to make two further appearances in that year’s Four Nations tournament but was injured for last year’s Tri-Series games against England and France.

He has made 22 appearances for St George Illawarra this season and if he does regain fitness, he’ll be Wales’ only representative from the Australian NRL.

“We were initially told that he was ruled out completely due to injury,” said Wales coach Iestyn Harris. “But our head physiotherapist Ben Stirling has been in contact with his club in Sydney and they are now saying that his injury is recovering a lot quicker than they expected.

“They will know by next week whether he will be fit or not and if it’s positive news then we’ll be delighted to have him over here playing for Wales once again.

“His inclusion would mean that we will have 15 players in our side who have played at the highest level this season which would be the most we’ve had in many years.”