On Tuesday the scrum-capped, hair-transplanted England scrum half was ruled out for up to three months with a knobbled knee. Gale was instrumental in Castleford’s League Leaders Shield win and subsequent run to the Grand Final in 2017, picking up Man Of Steel honours along the way. His leadership and organisational skills are expected to be sorely missed by Daryl Powell’s side who will now call on all two of Ben Roberts, Jake Trueman and Jamie Ellis in the halves for the visit of our Saints. Gale’s absence doesn’t guarantee a Saints win but it will certainly help our cause.
Meanwhile the Gale-shaped hole in the England Elite Performance Squad must be filled. That honour could go to George Williams but given that the Wigan man is the only other recognised half in Wayne Bennett’s 21-man selection and is probably more comfortable at stand-off might there be a shout for our very own Danny Richardson to be promoted from the England Knights to the senior squad ahead of the June Test match with New Zealand in Denver? Richardson has been developing well since wresting the starting slot from Matty Smith under Justin Holbrook and Bennet could do a lot worse than monitor the form of the young half over the next few weeks.
On the move on Tuesday was Matty Russell, who leaves one pack of Wolves for another in transferring from Warrington to Toronto. Russell signs a two-and-a-half year deal with the Canadian outfit;
“I believe my best rugby is in front of me and I hope to contribute to the team with a strong possibility of making the Qualifiers.” Said Russell, before going off to work on what he is going to say when he returns to the UK in six months time for ‘personal reasons’. The Wolves and the Wolfpack meet in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.
Sad news on Wednesday when two former legends of the game were lost. Former Saint Cliff Watson died at the age of 78 as did Charlie Stone just a day short of his 68th birthday. Stone was the former Hull FC captain and prop forward who also played for Featherstone Rovers and made one appearance for England. Watson made 373 appearances for Saints between 1960-71 before starring for Cronulla in Australia until 1973. Watson was capped 30 times by Great Britain and is a member of the greatest ever Saints 17-man squad.
Also on Wednesday young Saints hooker Aaron Smith, yet to make his first team debut with the club, joins Hull KR on a one-moth deal. Smith is cover for Rovers’ injured captain Shaun Lunt and made his Super League debut in the Robins’ 54-18 drubbing by Wakefield Trinity at what used to be known as Belle Vue. Not the best of starts then from a results point of view but the experience Smith gains in his spell at KCom Craven Park could be vital in helping him develop into a regular in the Saints squad. And let’s not forget that no less a light than Jon Wilkin started his career getting gubbed every week on Humberside.
Smith’s path to the first team is that little bit trickier with news on Thursday that James Roby’s one-year option on his contract has been activated. All of which legalese tripe means that the best hooker in Super League will remain at Saints until at least the end of the 2019 season. It’s a massive boost for Saints for whom Roby continues to be one of the top performers on a consistent basis;
“I'm proud to have played at Saints my whole career and looking forward to the future.” Said Roby, instantly crushing optimistic and probably mischievous suggestions on social media that he could have been snapped up by our rivals down the road. Not that they would want him. They’ve got Tommy Leuluai. What? Oh….
If missing out on Roby is not exactly a shock to the Wigan faithful the news later on Thursday that Joe Burgess will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury is rather more jarring. Burgess had been showing some fine form among Wigan’s army of top class wingers with eight tries and nine appearances in the early part of 2018;
“I’m gutted for Joe because I know how hard he has worked to get to the level he is at.” Ugged Warriors boss Shaun Wane, adding;
“His last three games have been his best of the year and he was playing really well.”
The injury is devastating for Burgess but don’t expect it to impact Wigan’s bid for the Grand Final too much. As frustrating as injuries to top players are the next cab off the rank will be just as good and they will carry on being….well….Wigan.
As no doubt Albert Kelly will carry on being Albert Kelly. The Hull FC scrum-half signs a new two-year deal with the black and whites on Saturday, tying him down until the end of the 2020 season. The deal comes after persistent rumours that Kelly would be snapped up by an NRL club at the end of the year. Reports that the Australian sides were put off by amateur videos made in an East Yorkshire branch of McDonalds are unconfirmed, but the news will be warmly welcomed by the Hull fans who have had a bit of a rocky ride so far in 2018. Kelly can be devastating on his day and would have been extremely difficult for coach Lee Radford to replace. Let’s hope the former Hull KR man can learn a few manners over the next two years.
The week ends with more bad news for Castleford as Garry Lo is released from the rest of his two-year deal having played just one game for the Tigers since arriving from Sheffield Eagles in pre-season.;
“Today we received a request from Garry Lo's representative to be released from his contract with the club to allow him to focus on a personal matter.” Snooted a club statement, refusing to be drawn on some of the mirkier rumours surrounding Lo’s sudden removal.
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