Castleford Tigers duo urged to push on for England

The Leeds-born player has helped the Tigers to four wins from five in Super League with only points difference preventing them being ahead of Wigan Warriors and at the top the table.

The 30-year-old is one of 31 players invited to a players’ gathering at Old Trafford on March 23 by England coach Shaun Wane, who will be working this year to decide his squad for the upcoming Ashes series against Australia in the autumn.

The former Wigan head coach has also included eight NRL-based players on a watch list as he looks toward the international fixtures.

McShane cruelly missed out on a place at the 2017 World Cup after helping Castleford lift the League Leaders’ Shield before losing the Grand Final to Leeds Rhinos. He was included in Wayne Bennett’s initial elite performance squad but was not selected to travel to the tournament in Australia.

Castleford forward Liam Watts has also been included on the 31-man candidate list but Tigers chief Daryl Powell admits he is more delighted by McShane’s inclusion.

“Paul McShane is the one I am most pleased for,” said Powell.

“It has been a bit of a journey for Paul to get in and around the team and he has been on the edges of the squad recently.

“He looks like a genuine world-class hooker at the moment with the way that he is playing.

“He just needs to retain that standard that he has set himself and both he and Wattsy are high-quality players.

“We have got other players who have not played as much, Adam Milner played a couple of years back and has had an awesome pre-season.”

Leeds Rhinos’ Luke Gale and Harry Newman are also invited, as are Josh Griffin, Scott Taylor and Josh Jones from Hull FC.

Wakefield’s Reece Lyne and Tom Johnstone also get the call, as does Huddersfield Giants’ Jermaine McGillvary.

Former Castleford full-back Zak Hardaker has also been included.

The Tigers have also had three players named in the initial England Knights squad.

Head coach Paul Anderson has picked Castleford half-backs Danny Richardson and Jake Trueman, along with forward Mike McMeeken.

Powell added: “Truey, Danny and Mike will hopefully have big seasons and progress and be in and around it at the end of the season against the Australians.

“It is great when you get your players involved and I think if we continue our form throughout the season we will be looking at more players to get in there.”

Meanwhile, Castleford have been provided with an injury boost as Watts is set for a return to action much sooner than anticipated.

The 29-year-old ruptured tendons in his finger during the first half of the Tigers’ 28-8 victory over Hull KR with initial fears that he would be sidelined for up to two months.

He could still feature in Friday night’s fixture at Warrington Wolves but Powell hopes he will only be sidelined for a maximum of one week.

“It is not as bad as we thought. He has got an injury to his tendons, his finger has dislocated out the bottom,” said Powell.

“He will be okay, whether he plays this week or not we don’t know.

“If he doesn’t play we hope it is only a one-week injury and not the six to eight weeks that we feared it might be.”

Winger Sosaia Feki has suffered a set-back in his bid to return from injury after tearing his calf in training.

The former Cronulla Sharks player has yet to feature for Castleford this term due to injury disruptions. Powell is unsure when Feki will be able to return to action but is pleased to have adequate cover in James Clare and Derrell Olpherts.

“I am massively disappointed for him. He was devastated on Sunday morning when that happened,” added Powell.

“We are disappointed we can’t get him in the team. Having said that, James Clare is playing outstanding rugby league at the moment alongside Derrell Olpherts.

“You get these things, it is tough on Sosaia but we will look after him and he is going to have a great career here. It is just not happening at the moment because of these injury issues.”

On when Feki could return to the fray, Powell added: “It is hard to say at this moment because when you re-injure something it causes a few more issues and you have then got to make sure it is right.”

Senior England players: J Charnley, D Clark, C Hill, M Cooper, J Hughes, B Currie, J Philbin, S Ratchford (all Warrington), N Evalds, D Sarginson (both Salford), L Farrell, O Gildart, Z Hardaker, D Manfredi (all Wigan), L Gale, H Newman (both Leeds), J Griffin, J Jones, S Taylor (all Hull FC), T Johnstone, R Lyne (both Wakefield), J Lomax, T Makinson, M Percival, J Roby, L Thompson, A Walmsley (all St Helens), J McGillvary (Huddersfield), P McShane, L Watts (both Castleford), S Tomkins (Catalans).

England Knights: M Ashton, T King, D Walker (Warrington), J Ashworth, M Lees, A Smith, J Welsby (all St Helens), J Bibby, E Havard, L Marshall, O Partington, S Powell, H Smith, M Smithies (all Wigan), R Butler (London Broncos), T Davies, M Whitley (both Catalans), M English, D McIntosh, A O’Brien, Jake Wardle, O Wilson (all Huddersfield), G Lawler, G Minikin (Hull KR), K Leeming, M Oledzki, C Smith, J Walker (all Leeds), M McMeeken, D Richardson, J Trueman (Castleford), M Matongo (Hull FC).