Video - Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell full of praise for milestone prop Andy Lynch

The prop makes his 500th career appearance against Warrington Wolves on Sunday having debuted in 1999 – the year Powell won the Challenge Cup as a veteran stand-off with Leeds Rhinos.

Speaking about his venerable front-row, he admitted: “Lynchy is knocking on a bit now. He’s a little bit greyer than me, too.

“He’s been an awesome player over many years. He gets a fair bit of stick actually for his age but he’s still going alright and 500 games is a lot of games isn’t it to play rugby league?

“He’s a big man, does a lot of hard work and does a lot of minutes so it is a fine achievement.”

Asked whether he can recall playing against a young Lynch – Powell retired in 2001 – he added: “I can’t, no. I’m sure I did but I can’t remember that far back individual games.

“I played about 560 so it must be all the head knocks meaning I’ve forgotten about it!”

Lynch is currently the oldest player in Super League given he turns 38 in October.

Yet the former Bradford Bulls and Hull FC captain – now in his second stint at Wheldon Road – is still going strong for the leaders.

He is out of contract at the end of this season and could retire although has still to make a definitive decision on his future.

Powell admitted: “I’ve not really spoken to him in too much depth about it. I think he’ll make his decision in good time and for me it’d just be a massive ‘thank you’ for what he’s done if that’s what he decides (retirement).

“He’s been an awesome contributor to this club in a couple of stints and rugby league in general, I think.”

Ex-Great Britain prop Lynch, potentially, could go into 2018 especially as Powell has been able to rest him at times this season.

“We have tried to do that,” added the coach.

“He’s had a couple of really tough injuries particularly on his hand which has really impacted on his ability to do a big pre-season.

“We’ve tried really to sharpen him up over a couple of periods where he’s done extra training without having to play the game at the weekend.

“I think that’s helped him and he’s come back and played some really strong games for us.

“He’s a great leader and a great driver of standards around the place. He’ll continue to do that for as long as he plays the game. That’s just the way he is.”