Knee operation leaves West facing another season on the sidelines

The injury-jinxed career of Dwayne West, the son of the former New Zealand captain and Wigan coach, Graeme West, has taken another turn for the worse with the news that he will miss the whole of the new Super League season.

The 22-year-old centre badly twisted his knee on his debut for Hull in the Powergen Challenge Cup fourth-round tie against Halifax 10 days ago and has now been told that he will need a full reconstruction.

That was only his second match since recovering from surgery on his shoulder, an injury which kept him out for virtually the whole of last season at St Helens.

Huddersfield have had two of their most experienced players suspended. The ex-Leeds and Great Britain prop, Darren Fleary, has been banned for three matches for using his forearm during the defeat by Warrington on Sunday.

The Papua New Guinean, Stanley Gene, placed on report in the same game, has been found guilty of striking and banned for two matches. Both players were also fined £300.

Paul Johnson, of Wigan, guilty of a deliberate high tackle against Castleford, has been suspended for two games.

Cas's veteran Australian scrum-half, Mitch Healey, is likely to be out for a month after tearing his hamstring during the win over Wigan on Sunday. The Tigers' coach, Graham Steadman, is expected to use Mark Lennon at scrum-half during his absence, starting with Sunday's friendly at Leigh.

That match will also see the first outing of the season for Leigh's record try-scoring full-back, Neil Turley, who has been kept out since the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final last October by a back injury.