Castleford Tigers suffer key injury blow ahead of Hull FC clash

Castleford Tigers star full-back Tex Hoy is set to miss three to four weeks through injury, head coach Danny McGuire has confirmed. 

The former Hull FC and Newcastle Knights man was an eyebrow-raising omission from the Fords’ 21-man squad for the clash against his old team this weekend, but it now appears he will spend an extended spell on the sidelines through injury.

Hoy has made 14 appearances for the club this season, scoring five tries in the process.

Danny McGuire offers Tex Hoy injury update

Speaking to the media ahead of the game against Hull FC, McGuire said: “Unfortunately, Tex suffered a calf injury in training, so he will be missing for a few weeks. The best case is three or four weeks.

He added: “It’s not a serious one, but it’s obviously disappointing, but that’s our game; injuries happen, and you’ve got to adapt. Someone else will get an opportunity this week.”

While this prognosis is good news for the long term, it still leaves Castleford in a sticky situation in the short term, given their ever-changing spine combinations.

Hoy has been an ever-present in the Fords’ spine this year, but an early injury to Rowan Milnes forced him into the halves alongside Daejarn Asi, while McGuire has also rotated the likes of Liam Horne, Judah Rimbu, Chris Atkin and Cain Robb at hooker.

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In previous outings, it seemed things were beginning to click for the spine after a settled run of games, particularly for Milnes, Asi and Hoy in that key playmaking axis, but this latest injury gives them another hurdle to jump.

“It’s disappointing, more for the team than Tex,” McGuire disclosed. “Tex has been really consistent and is one of our key players to make something happen when we need it.

“The combinations in the spine are still developing, Rowan and DJ (Daejarn Asi) are still finding their feet as a partnership, so missing Tex isn’t ideal.

The enforced absence of Hoy now also leaves them with a glaring hole in their starting 13 heading into this weekend’s game against the Airlie Birds, who themselves are in the midst of an injury crisis

“We have got a few players that can slide in there, and we’ve worked on some different combinations this week. Chris Atkin, Zac Cini and Innes Senior can all play there.

“The front-runner is probably Zac as he’s been training there for the majority of the week, but we’ll see how it plays out.”

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