Alex Mellor to miss start of Super League season in injury blow for Castleford Tigers

The experienced back-rower sustained the issue in last Sunday's 54-0 victory over Keighley Cougars and underwent a scan to confirm the extent of the damage.

The injury is not as bad as first feared but new Tigers boss Craig Lingard is set to be without Mellor for the opening month of the 2024 campaign, which begins with a home game against defending champions Wigan Warriors on February 17.

"He's an experienced player for us and has had a real good pre-season," said Lingard.

"He didn't have his best season last year – like everyone at the club – but he was raring to go this season. He was at the front of all the conditioning stuff that we were doing.

"It's a massive blow for him to be out for any sort of length of time.

"For us, it’s one of the positions we have got cover in because we’ve got another four back-rowers. That’s us looking at it practically rather than from a player welfare perspective and how Mells is going to be feeling.”