Warrington coach issues quadruple injury update with fresh blow as Cai Taylor-Wray latest delivered

Warrington Wolves will be without Toafofoa Sipley for at least the next fortnight through his ankle injury, while Cai Taylor-Wray’s return date remains unclear.

Wire were beaten 34-6 on home soil by fellow high-flyers Leeds Rhinos last Thursday night, with off-season recruit Sipley not returning for a second stint.

The front-rower has had a stop-start first season in Super League through numerous niggling injuries, dating back to picking up his first real issue in a Challenge Cup Third Round victory over Championship outfit Goole Vikings back in March.

And now, he is set for another short stint on the sidelines, starting with missing this Thursday night’s home clash against French outfit Catalans Dragons.

Toafofoa Sipley injury blow confirmed following Max Wood loan recall

Head coach Sam Burgess undertook media duties on Monday afternoon with his pre-match press conference.

Confirming the prognosis of Sipley’s injury, he said: “He won’t play this week. It’s not super long, but it might be two or three weeks. It’s a lower limb injury.

“He got injured against Goole and if I’m honest, we maybe rushed him back a little bit, now he keeps picking up little niggles.

“We’re going to give him the time to get back to 100% and hopefully we’ll then see a bit of consistency back in the team with him.

“He’s a good asset for the team, he’s a good point of difference in offload, he’s a big part of the team really.”

The news of the injury comes following Wire’s decision to recall young forward Max Wood from his month-long loan at fellow Super League outfit Hull FC.

Wood featured twice for the Airlie Birds, and will slot into Warrington’s 17 on Thursday night, with Burgess explaining: “He played the longest minutes of his career at any level, so he’ll get some confidence out of that and that’s what we wanted.

“It’s good to call him back in, he’ll come in for Toff.

“He’s playing this week, and as we know, things can change dramatically very fast. It’s up to Max then, really, and he’ll take some confidence out of the last two weeks.”

Ominous Cai Taylor-Wray update delivered

Full-back Taylor-Wray is another whose season has been blighted, and has been sidelined since late April when he suffered a hamstring injury just weeks after fracturing his hand.

The news on him is not positive, with Burgess saying: “We don’t know when he’ll be back, it won’t be in the next couple of weeks.

“He’s not played a lot of rugby this year, he’s not really got going. He’s a young lad and he’s trying to figure out what it takes to play at this level week in, week out.

“He’s struggling with this recovery, it’s just not getting better. We’re trying all different things to speed him up, but it’s just not working.

“I can’t give a definitive answer on it, it’s frustrating.”

Elsewhere, back-rowers Sam Stone and Adam Holroyd are also currently on a long list of absentees.

Malta international Stone pulled his hamstring in training at the back end of May, while Holroyd has not featured at all so far this year after shoulder surgery in the off-season.

Burgess said: “Sam’s a number of weeks off, it’s frustrating. He had a fair hamstring injury, so I think he’s still maybe a month away.

“Adam will probably play reserves this week. He’ll get his feet under his body a bit again, get involved in some collisions and see how he goes.”