Shorrocks out '˜long-term' as injury crisis deepens

On the same day it was revealed Oliver Gildart faces up to three months on the sidelines, it emerged Shorrocks has a “long-term” injury.

The halfback/hooker was nearing a return from a knee injury suffered in the win at Widnes in February.

But he has suffered a fresh problem during training, and was yesterday sent to see a specialist to determine the extend of the damage.

“It’s a problem with his knee, it’s long-term,” said Wane.

“It was in training, no one was near him. He went to pass the ball, put his foot on the ground, and started limping.”

Shorrocks broke into the side last season and went on to make 12 appearances, only just missing out on the Grand Final when Sean O’Loughlin returned from injury.

His setback was confirmed by Wane at his press conference yesterday, when he revealed Gildart is likely to be sidelined for two to three months with a “serious back injury”.

With Liam Forsyth already in the side deputing for Anthony Gelling, the next centre in line would be academy-product Jack Higginson - but he has been sidelined by a hip problem.

Leeds forward Brett Ferres faces the RFL disciplinary tonight and could be banned for between four to eight games for a Grade E charge of making dangerous contact with Gildart.

Sky Sports summariser Phil Clarke, whose own career was ended by a broken neck injury suffered during a game, described the crusher tackle as “one of the worst” he had seen.

Wane has a string of fronline players missing but is refusing to use their long casualty list as a pre-emptive excuse ahead of the visit of early-season pace-setters Castleford this Thursday night.

“It’s far worse than last year but to be honest, it’s happening, we have to deal with it, and I’m determined to get the win on Thursday,” he said.

“There’s no pattern to the injuries, we’ve just been unlucky, and we’ll be getting some back in the next couple weeks.

“I am not stressed one bit, I’m more annoyed we’ve not got a win from our last two games.

“But the positive is we played poorly with the team we’ve got, and still pushed Leeds and Hull - two of the form teams - closely, so we’re in good shape, we’re doing okay.”