Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr 'disappointed' with George Hirst ban, hopeful of star's return v St Helens
Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr says he is disappointed with forward George Hirst’s two-match ban.
The RFL’s match review panel charged the front-rower with grade D head contact after he was sin-binned following a challenge on Justin Sangare during last weekend’s 24-18 win at York Knights. Hirst will miss Saturday’s home meeting with St Helens and the visit of Leigh Leopards two weeks later.
“I was disappointed we couldn’t keep George in the team,” Carr said at his weekly preview press conference today (Wednesday). “I feel like every week we get through injury-free and we are going to keep the same team for another week, something happens.
“I am disappointed for George, he only came back from his own head knock a week earlier, we got him back in the team and I thought he played really well, now he has got a two-week ban. It is hard, we just can’t keep any consistency in the team at the moment.”
Carr felt there was nothing Hirst could do to avoid his collision with Sangare, but stressed Tigers will “respect the decision”. He added: “To avoid that type of collision he would have had to dead-set disappear, which is impossible. It is frustrating.
“I have got to respect the process and the decision and just get on with it, but for him it is a tricky one; you can’t really fight it because the ruling, I think, was based on the player failing an hia [head injury assessment] more so than the actual action.
“I hope he [Sangare] is doing okay. He is a great kid, I’ve coached him before and you never want to see anything like that. It is part of the game, I suppose - you have got to respect the decision and get on with it.”
Meanwhile, Carr is hopeful winger/centre Semi Valemei could return this weekend following a knee injury. The Fijian has been out of action for two months, but Carr said he is “potentially in the picture” to face Saints. He confirmed: “We’ve got to get through a few more days of training this week, but he is starting to close in. We are not looking at weeks any more, we are looking at days - it will be a day to day proposition for him.”
After being injured in pre-season, Valemei made a couple of appearances in March, but has not played since. “It is always hard coming to a new environment and new country,” Carr noted. “You are over here to do what you love, which is play. Sometimes that gets taken away from you through injury.
"It has been hard for him, but he has done a really good job - his application to training has been unreal and he has ticked every box he can. I couldn’t be happier with his application, I just want him to get out there and do what he’s good at, which is play.”