Castleford Tigers suffer double blow as two key players are ruled out of Super League game at Hull KR

Castleford Tigers have suffered a double injury blow ahead of Friday's game at Hull KR.
Jake Mamo in action against Warrington last week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.Jake Mamo in action against Warrington last week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.
Jake Mamo in action against Warrington last week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

Coach Lee Radford, who will name an initial 21-man squad today, confirmed Mamo suffered concussion in last week’s defeat at Warrington Wolves and Edwards has a grade two calf strain.

Mamo could be available for the visit of Hull FC a week on Sunday and Radford said Edwards is likely to be sidelined for between two and four weeks.

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Tigers will also be without former Hull KR prop George Lawler who is serving a one-match suspension over a shoulder charge against Warrington.

Kenny Edwards is facing a spell on the sidelines. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.Kenny Edwards is facing a spell on the sidelines. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Kenny Edwards is facing a spell on the sidelines. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Radford had no complaints over the punishment and admitted: “I think he probably could have got done for a couple more, it is just one of those things.”

Ex-Leeds Rhinos centre/second-rower Alex Sutcliffe is available for selection despite suffering a throat injury last week and dislocating a finger in training.

Nathan Massey and Adam Milner could come into contention for the first time this season and Radford said: “It would be huge to get them back.

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“I think what they are about is probably what we are lacking a bit at the moment.”

Alex Sutcliffe, pictured tackling Warrington's George Williams, has had a tough week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.comAlex Sutcliffe, pictured tackling Warrington's George Williams, has had a tough week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Alex Sutcliffe, pictured tackling Warrington's George Williams, has had a tough week. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com

But Radford revealed Tigers are still waiting to hear how long half-back Danny Richardson will be out of action after he suffered a fracture in his neck during the round one loss to Salford Red Devils.

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He said: “Nobody wants to be nought from three; that’s not the start I wanted, but I am very conscious of where we are at.

“We are finding our feet a little bit and what happened in pre-season, not having a competitive fixture, has hurt us a little bit.”

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Despite the importance of the game, Radford stressed he is focusing on performance first.

“We have identified some areas this week we need to be better at,” he said.

“I could not fault their intent last week, I thought we really went after Warrington.

“Their first three sets, the most metres they made on the ground was 26.

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“Defensively, that’s an outstanding effort and I really applauded the change of mindset from round one, but what we needed to fix up was the detail at the end of some of those collisions.

“That will go a long way to making that loss a W on Friday night.”

Meanwhile, Radford has given the RFL a “pat on the back” for listening to coaches’ concerns over decisions made by officials during matches.

The Tigers boss was upset about a heavy penalty and six-again count against his team at Warrington, but insisted: “A positive for me is the RFL have given us the opportunity to voice our opinion to the officials post-game.

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“It was almost like a counselling session for me; to hear them give reasoning for those decisions is a massive plus.”

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