Kelepi Tanginoa prognosis delivered by Warrington coach as Cai Taylor-Wray return confirmed

Warrington will manage Kelepi Tanginoa’s knee injury through to the end of the season before ensuring it is resolved properly ahead of 2027, Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has confirmed.

Back-rower Tanginoa withdrew from last weekends’ defeat at Leigh Leopards during the warm-up, pulling out through a knee injury which has plagued him for a number of weeks without sidelining him.

He has been left out of Wire’s 21-man squad for Saturday afternoon’s trip to Castleford Tigers, alongside James Bentley, who will sit out of the game at The Jungle as he observes concussion protocols following a failed Head Injury Assessment (HIA) at Leigh.

But the news on Tanginoa is not all bad, and he could be back in action as soon as next week.

Kelepi Tanginoa prognosis delivered by Warrington coach

Wolves boss Burgess undertook pre-match media duties on Thursday afternoon ahead of the trip to Cas, where the visitors will also have veteran hooker Sam Powell back available following a three-match suspension.

On Tanginoa, he explained: “Kelepi is okay, he’s just had a grumbling knee for a while now and it probably got too inflamed (before the game against Leigh), so he’s got a further appointment tomorrow.

“We probably might see him next week, and considering there’s eight or nine weeks left until the end of the season, it’s something we’re capable of managing and something we’ll take care of in the off-season.

“We’ll be pencilling in games where we’ll get him onto the field, and he’ll be able to do a job.”

Elsewhere, Cai Taylor-Wray has not featured since April due to injury, but has been in and around the squad over the last few weeks without making it onto the field.

After Tanginoa withdrew from the game at Leigh, he stepped into the role of 18th man, but was not required to enter the field.

Having been out for more than three months, there is good news on the young full-back, as Burgess explained: “He’ll play – he’s back in the team this week.

“It’s taken 14 weeks for me to say that, but he’ll play this week and it’ll be good to see him back.

“He’s been out of the team for a while, we’re not expecting him to be perfect, but we’re expecting him to build his game and get him in that position he was in at the start of the year.”

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