Castleford Tigers dealt fresh triple injury blow as trio set for surgery

Castleford Tigers have suffered further injury blows on the eve of their Super League clash with Leeds Rhinos, with Fletcher Rooney, Cain Robb and Louis Senior all set for surgeries. 

The trio are the latest Castleford players to be sidelined with serious injuries, joining Blake Taaffe and Alex Mellor in the physio room.

Castleford Tigers suffer fresh injury blows as trio set for surgery

All three players missed their 34-8 win over Huddersfield Giants last time out through injury, and now seem set for surgeries on their respective blows.

Full-back Rooney suffered a hamstring injury while in action for the club’s reserves, and will now miss the next three months as a result of his procedure.

“He played in our reserves match on Saturday just gone, and was playing really well actually, but he made a linebreak and tried to accelerate around the full-back and felt his hamstring go.

“He’ll be having surgery on Tuesday, which is unfortunate for him.”

This isn’t the first time Rooney has suffered a significant leg injury, either, missing a big chunk of last season with a hamstring issue as well as suffering a previous knee issue, and Carr detailed he will now have a specific training programme to hopefully iron these issues out.

“It’s his second big one on that side, he had one last year; and the poor kid has had a few major injuries at a young age. He did his knee early on and then his quad and his hammies, so it’s all related we think.

“We’ve got a plan in place now. He’s only young and has a long career and a lot of footie ahead of him, so we have to make sure we get that plan right moving forward. Something has to change, if we keep doing the same thing with him, it’s going to continue.

He is also joined by hooker Robb and outside back Senior on the injury list, with the pair also go under the knife after picking up ankle blows. Robb is set to miss the next four weeks, while Senior is ruled out for as long as 10 weeks.

Castleford have also confirmed Taaffe has undergone a successful operation on a ruptured ACL suffered in their opening day defeat to Wigan Warriors, and will soon begin his rehab process with an aim to return in 2027.

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Captain Mellor is also sidelined with a broken tibia, and will be ruled out for six to eight weeks as a result. Head coach Ryan Carr previously detailed the back-rower did not require surgery, which has since been confirmed by the club.

Elsewhere, Semi Valemei and Brock Greacen have also missed the early stages of the season, but have not been included in this latest injury update from the club, which suggests they could be set to make their respective debuts this weekend at Headingley Stadium.

Castleford Tigers hit the market

The injury to Rooney now gives Carr an even bigger headache at full-back, especially considering Blake Taaffe is also ruled out for the rest of the season too.

He has previously told the media he was looking around for possible recruits to bolster the ranks, and speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Leeds, again stressed they were actively seeking a replacement from elsewhere.

“We haven’t given up on our recruitment plans for this year, so that’s something we need to continue to look at. We’re actively looking.”

One option that could entice Carr is Queensland Cup ace Ben Farr, with Love Rugby League exclusively reporting his name has been circulated around Super League clubs, and even though Carr admitted he knows of the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls man, the head coach played his cards close to his chest on that front.

“Yeah I know of him from my time in Australia,” he said. “But that’s more Chessy’s (Chris Chester) role; my role day-to-day is making sure we prepare as best we can to play well on the weekend. That’s what I’m focused on.”

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