Mamo and Symonds to return for Huddersfield this weekend

Drew Darbyshire

Jake Mamo and Tom Symonds will make their returns from long-term injuries this weekend when Huddersfield Giants face Wakefield Trinity.

The Giants visit Belle Vue this Saturday as they face Trinity in a pre-season friendly, 6pm kick-off.

Mamo was a stand-out player before picking up a foot injury in June while Symonds managed just two appearances in 2017 due to a knee injury.

Huddersfield head coach Rick Stone has confirmed that the pair will feature in the friendly this weekend.

Stone said: “I expect Jake Mamo and Tommy Symonds to play against Wakefield, they’ve been going well in training.

“It’s important for Jake to get a run out before throwing him in against Hull. I think it’s important for his own confidence too and Tommy Symonds is in the same boat.

“They’ve not played for a while after a decent injury and have done a lot of training by putting in a lot of miles in their legs. I think they’ll benefit from playing and getting some confidence from playing off the blokes around them.”

A young Giants side beat Dewsbury Rams in Leroy Cudjoe’s Testimonial last time out but Stone says he will field a more experienced side at Wakefield.

He added: “I’m not sure on who will start in the halves against Wakefield.

“Lee Gaskell has been a bit sick this week and didn’t play against Dewsbury because of it. I’d suggest he’ll play against Wakefield and we’ll just work the three of Rankin, Brough and Gaskell around.

“There’s a chance that Gaskell could feature in Leroy’s spot at centre at some stage so there’s some flexibility there. I think Jake (Mamo) will end up playing full-back, Darnell (McIntosh) on the wing in place of (Jermaine) McGillvary and we’ll get some more senior forwards out there in Ryan Hinchcliffe, Ukuma Ta’ai, Shannon Wakeman and possibly Sebastine Ikahihifo. We’ll see more of our full-strength squad against Wakefield.”