Castleford Tigers boss Lee Radford to enlist help of Joe Cator following injury blow

Hudson is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a setback that Cator is all too familiar with.

The Hull FC back-rower ruptured his Achilles twice in the space of seven months, restricting him to one competitive outing since August 2021.

Cator made his latest comeback against Sheffield Eagles in a pre-season friendly last weekend after learning from the mistakes made during his first stint in rehab to enjoy a smooth road to recovery the second time around.

Radford, who brought Cator back to Super League towards the end of his reign at Hull, is hoping to tap into the 24-year-old's experiences in a bid to avoid potential pitfalls with Hudson.

"He came back in really, really good shape and was flying," said Radford ahead of Sunday's trial game at Whitehaven.

"I was really looking forward to seeing how he went in this game and him making a push for the start of the season. The injury has derailed that.

"Joe Cator did it twice and made a couple of mistakes going into the first one and in his return. Joe's a bit like Kieran – he wants to get back on the field as quick as he possibly can.

"I intend to get them two on the phone together at some point. Hopefully Kieran can pick his brains about what to do and what not to do.

"Sometimes it's good to talk to somebody who has been through that same scenario."

The injury robs Hudson of a reunion with former club Whitehaven in a fixture that was part of the deal that took him to Castleford.

The friendly has taken on added importance following the postponement of last week's trial game against Keighley Cougars.

With only Huddersfield Giants to come before the start of the Super League season, Radford has been forced to change his plans for the trip to Cumbria.

"It has been detrimental to a few of the squad players who would have had another opportunity to impress, so that probably affects this week’s selection slightly," said Radford, who is also without Suaia Matagi, Callum McLelland and Sam Hall.

“It's disappointing for some of those blokes who would have had a real chance of putting their best foot forward.

“We anticipated going there with a pretty big squad last week. Now with us only having two official pre-season friendlies, we’ll probably go to Whitehaven with a stronger squad than anticipated.”