Castleford dealt major blow as Jake Trueman ruled out for rest of season

The 22-year-old, who was Super League young player of the year in 2018 and went on the Great Britain tour in 2019, has been struggling with the injury for the last two years.

His last league game for the Tigers was in May, since when his only appearances have been in the Challenge Cup semi-final and final when he was clearly in some discomfort.

Castleford coach Daryl Powell said: “It’s been really difficult to get to the bottom of.

“He’s walking around in a lot of pain consistently. He didn’t get rid of the pain between the semi-final and the final.

“He won’t play again this year which is disappointing. Obviously that has an impact on us, he’s a high quality player.

“But I think he’ll make a full recovery. I just hope first and foremost that everything is clear and he lives a normal life for the rest of his life because rugby league can do some pretty harsh things to you.”

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Meanwhile, Powell is hoping his captain Michael Shenton will be back playing within a fortnight after the facial injuries he sustained in the defeat by Huddersfield nine days ago proved to be less serious than first feared.

Powell added: “Initially he looked like it was going to be six weeks but the chances are it will be sooner, which is great news for him and great news for us.

“He sees a specialist on Thursday and I’m hoping he’ll play in the next couple of weeks.”

Castleford, who currently sit just outside the play-off spots in the Super League table, face St Helens on Thursday.

The Tigers will welcome back regular first team players Liam Watts, Cheyse Blair and George Griffin this week.