Castleford Tigers might receive a significant boost for their Magic Weekend match against Huddersfield Giants with the potential return of a long-term injured player.
Former Hull KR three-quarter Will Tate is in line to make his first appearance of the season at Elland Road on Sunday, following a successful comeback from an ankle injury in the reserves last weekend.
His return would be a significant boost for Castleford Tigers and coach Craig Lingard, who is currently dealing with the absences of Sam Wood and Josh Hodson and has been deploying forwards in the center position.
Coach Craig Lingard confirmed that Will Tate, who has been recovering from an ankle fracture and ligament damage, could make his return for Castleford Tigers at Magic Weekend if he shows no adverse reaction later this week.
Lingard said, “He came through that all right, so as long as there’s no reaction later this week he will be in contention. He has been out for 12 months and we don’t want to rush him back if he’s not right, but I spoke to him [earlier this week] and he felt absolutely fine. He said he expected to feel a lot worse than he did after playing the 80 minutes. The plan was potentially to give him around 50 minutes or an hour to assess him, but he played the full game and he has had no reaction from that as yet.”
Tate’s return would be a significant boost for the Tigers, who had to utilize second-rowers Luis Johnson and Alex Mellor in the center role last week.
Lingard acknowledged that Tate’s return might be expedited due to the team’s current shortage of centers. He said, “It’s maybe pushed a little bit because we haven’t got any centers. The situation and circumstances might force our hand a little bit. We’ve not played particularly great over the last couple of games as well, so it might give us the option of putting Will into that left-center and Alex Mellor in the back-row, where he has been playing really well.”
Forward George Lawler has returned from paternity leave, but hooker Cain Robb is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury sustained against Hull KR last week. Coach Craig Lingard explained, “I am not expecting him back. It dislocated and went back in; there was no manipulation needed, it was in place when the physio got on, but there’s likely to be some damage to the ligaments around it.”
Another hooker, Paul McShane, is sidelined with an arm injury. Lingard commented, “It’s not ideal, but it’s one of those things. We are getting used to it. I think I have had a minimum of five players out every single week this year, so it’s nothing new.”