Casualty Ward: St Helens star sidelined, Huddersfield Giants dealt double blow & Leigh Leopards boost

Keep up to date with the latest injury news in Casualty Ward, this week including St Helens, Huddersfield, Leigh and Castleford.

St Helens star sidelined

St Helens coach Paul Wellens expects to be without key forward Joe Batchelor for a ‘couple of weeks’ due to a hamstring injury.

Speaking after their 22-0 win over Castleford on Friday night, Wellens told St Helens Star: “Joe is probably going to be missing for a couple of weeks.

“He trained yesterday at captain’s run with a view to playing and just felt a bit tight in his hamstring, which is disappointing obviously for him and for us.

“He’s an influential player, he’ll get scanned on that, we hope it’s not too serious but we obviously need some more information there.”

Castleford key man nursing knee injury after missing St Helens game

Castleford coach Andy Last said influential loose forward Joe Westerman missed their defeat at St Helens due to a knee injury.

The former England international took part in captain’s run, but his knee injury forced him to withdraw from the Tigers squad for Friday’s trip to St Helens.

Hull FC winger ‘doubtful’ for derby

Hull FC coach Tony Smith says winger Adam Swift is ‘doubtful’ for Sunday’s derby against Hull KR after leaving the action early in their loss to Catalans Dragons.

Swift, who was making his 200th career appearance on Saturday afternoon, left the action in the 55th minute of their 28-18 defeat to league leaders Catalans.

And speaking after the game, Smith said the winger’s injury isn’t anything too serious, but he could be doubtful to play in Sunday’s derby against Hull KR.

Smith said: “Swifty’s hurting, but there’s nothing dramatically wrong.

“He got some accidental knees in the back in the fleshy part but he’ll be okay.

“I know it looked a bit nasty at the time, but it was accidental.

“He’s not ruled out next week, but he’d have to be doubtful.”

Huddersfield dealt double blow

Huddersfield Giants prop Harry Rushton has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

The Ireland international hasn’t played since their 30-26 defeat to Warrington on June 10.

The Huddersfield club have confirmed that Rushton will play no further part in their 2023 campaign after suffering a ‘serious injury’.

The club tweeted: “Harry Rushton has suffered a serious injury which has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

“Get well soon Harry, we’ll see you back in 2024.”

Meanwhile, Huddersfield boss Ian Watson is hoping for positive news on Olly Russell after the half-back was forced from the field against Wigan in the 22-6 defeat at the DW Stadium on Friday night.

“It didn’t look nice on the sideline when they hit him late there, I know it’s been put on report,” Watson said on Russell.

“He’s got an ice pack on and fingers crossed he’s OK.

“He’s only just come back as well. He’s got a good career ahead of him, he just needs to keep developing. All this he’ll learn from.”

Hull KR duo pick up knocks

Hull KR coach Willie Peters confirmed injuries to key forward Elliot Minchella and winger Fouad Yaha in their 34-4 defeat at Leigh Leopards.

Speaking after the game, Peters confirmed a double injury blow for his side.

Peters said: “Fouad has got a hamstring and Mini couldn’t move his shoulder.

“Mini had no strength in his shoulder so we got him off at half-time and then it snowballed because we only had three subs and three changes in that second half.

“I thought some guys stood up in the second half even though the scoreline went away but some players played long minutes and hung in there.”

Peters says the duo are both doubtful for next Sunday’s Hull derby, but the Robins could have Ireland international winger Ethan Ryan back amongst their ranks.

He added: “I’d say Fouad would definitely be out with a hamstring and Mini we need to have a look at. He said that he was doing his best but he just couldn’t play on so we’ll see how he goes.

“Possibly Ethan Ryan (back) and that’s pretty much it.”

Leigh boost

Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam says they could welcome back experienced forward Joe Wardle for their trip to Castleford Tigers on Friday following a long-term injury lay-off.

Meanwhile, Leigh lost key prop Robbie Mulhern and captain John Asiata in their 34-4 win over Hull KR on Friday.

Asiata came off the field early with a shoulder/neck injury and didn’t return, but Lam revealed that the NRL Grand Final winner could have gone back if they had needed him to.

Ireland international Mulhern left the action after scoring his try after taking a knock to his ribs.

Lam said: “John Asiata is fine, he could have gone back on the field but Robbie Mulhern has got a bit of a rib injury so we’ll have a good look at him on Monday.

“I could have put him (Asiata) back on but I wanted them to play without him and make sure we got those combinations and I was happy with that.”

Keep up to date with all the latest injury news in Super League with our Casualty Ward feature, out every Monday.

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