Huddersfield lose more key stars to injuries as Jacob Gagai absence explained
George Flanagan (left) celebrates a try for Huddersfield Giants in 2026
Huddersfield Giants could be without George Flanagan for their final two league games of 2026, after he left the field during Friday night’s win over Leigh Leopards.
Flanagan came off in the closing stages of the Giants’ latest triumph which steered them further away from bottom club Bradford Bulls as the regular season enters its closing stages.
And head coach Jim Lenihan revealed after the game that there are fears Flanagan has picked up a calf injury which will require scans. Given how close it is until the end of the campaign for Huddersfield, any negative outcome on that scan would likely mean his season is over.
Huddersfield suffer fresh injury blows
Lenihan conceded: “We lost George Flanagan late, too. At first, he thought it might have been cramp, but it just wasn’t going away.
“We’ll have to get it scanned, but it could be something a little bit in the soleus or the calf muscle. He’s not quite sure exactly, he did cramp up and he does often cramp up at the back end of games. But they might have thought it was a bit more than that, we’ll see.”
That is not the only problem to emerge from Friday’s win, either.
Sam Hewitt looks set to miss next week’s game with Hull KR after picking up a Category 1 HIA – which automatically stands him down from Huddersfield’s penultimate match of the season.
Another notable absentee for the Giants was outgoing centre Jacob Gagai, who will sign for Warrington in 2027. He was a late withdrawal from the Huddersfield team that took to the field on Friday night, and Lenihan explained he too is struggling with a calf problem.
Lenihan said: “We also lost Jacob Gagai with a calf (issue) before kick-off. We thought he was playing right up until today, and he rang me late on before the game.”
Huddersfield Giants injury prognosis
That, coupled with Joe Greenwood pulling out due to illness, meant Huddersfield only had 18 fit and available players – but there is set to be a triple boost of returnees next week when they face the defending champions.
Lenihan explained: “Joe Greenwood had a bit of illness in the family this afternoon, so he didn’t play. I think we only had 18 players available.
“Joe will definitely (be back next week), hopefully he’ll be over the sickness by then. Jacob was really close today, and Wrenchy (Connor Wrench) was close, too. We’ll maybe get both of those guys back.”
