Castleford Tigers' key-man Paul McShane set to miss clash with Wigan Warriors

[josie andrews]

Castleford hooker Paul McShane is set to miss Friday's game with Wigan as he is facing a ban of up to five matches after being accused of intentionally striking an opponent with his forearm or elbow.

McShane has been cited by the Rugby Football League's match review panel for a challenge on Leeds scrum-half Richie Myler in the early stages of the Tigers' 21-20 golden-point defeat at Headingley last Thursday.

He has been handed a grade D charge, which carries a suspension of between three and five matches, and will face a disciplinary tribunal on Tuesday.

McShane's absence against reigning champions Wigan on Friday would create major selection problems for coach Daryl Powell, whose side has experienced back-to-back defeats for the first time this season.

Castleford have another recognised hooker in Adam Milner but McShane began last Thursday's game at scrum-half in the absence of Jordan Rankin, who injured a hamstring in training and is unlikely to be fit this week.

The Tigers already have two specialist half-backs, Luke Gale and Jamie Ellis, on the sidelines and recently released a third in Ben Roberts.

The panel also issued cautions to Greg Bird (Catalans Dragons), Pauli Pauli (Wakefield), Gil Dudson (Salford) and Matty Lees (St Helens) for incidents of foul play in the Betfred Super League round-eight matches.

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... -1-9685095

[southportcdm]

An excellent player but no excuses for his actions and it gives us a realistic chance of getting a result at Cas if we can continue to improve as we have done in the last couple of games. We should have more experience to choose from although I wouldn't think that Ben Flower will be fit. It was great to see so many promising youngsters on Sunday but it'll be better for their development if they can be fed into the team gradually. We can't rely on 18-20 year olds backing up every week but we do seem to have some great potential for the next few seasons. It was nice to have one of those games where you go home surprised and excited by the performance. Keep it up lads.

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Banned for three games.

[morley pie eater]

Banned for three games.

And the three games are us, Huddersfield and Wakefield. With Gale and other absentees, plus Cas hitting a bad patch, this is perfect for us.

If they'd hung on to Saints' and Wire's coat tails, come Easter there'd be 3 teams sitting comfortably in the pkay-off places, leaving us scrapping for one of the two remaining. But this could be another green bottle falling off the wall.

I'm realistically hoping Cas lose all 3, and we'll be challenging for 3rd place by Good Friday

[josie andrews]

Castleford hooker Paul McShane banned for three matches

Castleford will be without their influential hooker Paul McShane until Easter Monday because of suspension.

McShane, who has missed just two games in the last three seasons, was handed a three-match ban for striking Leeds half-back Richie Myler during the Tigers' 21-20 golden-point defeat at Headingley.

He was charged by the Rugby Football League's match review panel with a grade A offence, which carries a ban of between three and five matches.

McShane pleaded guilty when he appeared before a disciplinary tribunal in Leeds on Tuesday evening but failed in a bid to challenge the grading.

However, in going to the lower end of the grading, the tribunal took into account the player's impressive previous disciplinary record, the fact Myler was not injured and McShane's display of remorse by immediately checking on his opponent's health.

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... ee-matches