Castleford coach reveals grim Jason Qareqare injury prognosis ahead of Hull KR clash

Castleford star Jason Qareqare is set for ‘more than a month’ on the sideline with his hamstring injury, Tigers head coach Ryan Carr has confirmed.

Cas youth product Qareqare, still only 22, played just one game in the entirety of the 2025 campaign due to issues with his hamstring: requiring a full reconstruction.

The winger, a two-time Fiji international, has been among the shining stars in a struggling side under new boss Carr this season – scoring 19 tries in 22 appearances across all competitions.

But he missed last weekend’s heavy defeat at home against Warrington Wolves, and now, scans have revealed he is set for an extended period out.

Castleford coach reveals grim Jason Qareqare injury prognosis

With just six games remaining this term, Cas host reigning Super League champions Hull KR at The Jungle on Friday night.

In his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Tigers boss Carr confirmed the prognosis on Qareqare’s injury as he detailed: “We got him scanned and he’s looking at more than a month.

“It’ll be touch and go towards the last game or two (of the season), I reckon.

“We’ve got to be mindful of him. He only played one game last year with that same hamstring (issue), and he had it fully reconstructed.

“We’ve got to make sure we do the right thing by Jason, and we’re going to do that. We’ll push him, but we’ll see where we go.”

Qareqare’s latest hamstring-related issue was picked up in his most recent appearance as Cas were thumped 52-14 away at rivals Wakefield despite Trinity going down to 12 men just 22 minutes into that contest.

Carr explained: “In the game against Wakefield, he scored late down that sideline.It (the injury occurring) wasn’t like a big event, he finished the game, but he felt some pain there so we treated it as precautionary, and then we scanned it and got a shock back.

“He finished the game, so we weren’t really thinking it was going to be a bad injury.”

Tom Weaver replacement options named amid squad confirmation for Hull KR clash

Doing it tough on the injury front at the moment, like most of the teams in Super League, there won’t be much change to Cas’ squad for this weekend.

Australian Carr confirmed: “Sam Hall is in with a chance of being back, he was out last week injured.

“Tommy (Weaver) is obviously out with the head knock, so I think we’ve got about 19 or 20 to pick from.

“In the spine, we’ve got Fletcher Rooney and Jenson Windley, so they’re two options for us (to replace Weaver).

“It just depends which way we go there, they’re a couple of young kids who have been with our club for a while now, they’ve been training really well and playing really well in the reserves.

“It’ll come down to one of those two.”

Both Rooney and Windley have first-team experience, playing a combined 24 games for the club across all competitions to date.

Windley most recently featured in the halves in July during a defeat to Leigh, while Rooney only recently returned to fitness having required hamstring surgery after his only first-team game of the season so far back in February against Toulouse.

Carr said: “He (Rooney) got injured in Round 2, I think, and he’s fought his way back to play two games of reserves.

“He’s super keen, and so is Jenson. They’re both great kids, so whichever one gets the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to seeing them play.”