Castleford Tigers are close to getting one of their standout players back from a long-term injury.
Tigers Captain Alex Mellor broke his leg in the round two loss to Toulouse Olympique on February 21st and is yet to play since then, however, he could be set for a return when Castleford face Wigan in a fortnight.
“He is getting there,” head coach Ryan Carr said of the back-rower, adding: “He is progressing really well and ticking all the boxes he can.
“It’s just the bone that has to heal, but (he should be back) in the next couple of weeks. It’s the Challenge Cup next weekend, which we don’t have a fixture in, but after that we play Wigan and we’d assume he’ll be back by then.”
Carr also offered clarification on winger Mikaele Ravalawa and why he didn’t feature last week against Bradford Bulls, noting that the Fijian had a leg injury and wasn’t simply dropped.
The coach said: “He picked up a knock. We are investigating that and trying to get to the bottom of it, but it’s not too serious. If not this week, it (his return) will probably be the following week.”
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Castleford Tigers boss facing ‘good headache’ as bodies return
Carr will name his initial 21-man squad at noon today (Friday) for Sunday’s home derby with Wakefield Trinity and in a positive headache, he is now having to make decisions on who to leave out, rather than how to put 17 players on the field.
“We’ve got a few players available for selection who weren’t last week, through injuries and things like that,” Carr added.
“When you have people missing out, that is a good headache to have as a coach and something we haven’t had much this year. We’ve had heaps of head knocks and things that have kept players out for one week and they are back for the next.
“That makes it tricky to maintain the same 17 every week, but hopefully we can get a run of luck in that area and then build on that consistency among the group. We have been pretty thin in our roster and we are starting to get a few healthy.”
Young Winger Jake Thewlis joined on a month-long loan from Warrington Wolves this week and he is in contention to debut, possibly as a replacement for outside back Semi Valemei who failed a HIA in the win over the Bulls last Thursday.
