Rudder setback for Castleford
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Castleford, who have not had the bestfortune with the fitness of overseas recruits in recent years, have had a pre-season scare over Sean Rudder. The former stand-off for Newcastle Knights, seen as the replacement for the departed Danny Orr, is expected to be out of action for six weeks after damaging cartilage in both knees.
That will rule him out of Cas' Boxing Day trial match at Leeds, but his new coach, Graham Steadman, is hopeful that he will be fit for other pre-season games. Steadman will give goal-kicking duties at Headingley to Jonny Hepworth. The departures of Orr, to Wigan, and Wayne Bartim, who has returned to Australia, have left Castleford without an obvious front-line kicker.
Another former Newcastle player, Bill Peden, has agreed to stay for another year with the London Broncos.
Huddersfield have broken through the £100,000 mark in season ticket sales before Christmas for the first time.
Next season the game is likely to adopt a new method of restarting play after an attacking player is held up over the try-line. At present, if that happens before the last tackle, the attacking side gets a scrum and a new set, which is felt to reward them too heavily. Under the new system, the attacking team would continue with the tackle count from a play-the-ball on the 10-metre line.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments