Wood gets call to fill Brough’s boots for Giants

High-flying Huddersfield, joint top of Engage Super League with Warrington, will be without the influential Brough for two months after he suffered ankle ligament damage last weekend. The injury also meant Brough missed out on making his England debut against the Exiles last night.

It means 21-year-old Kyle Wood, on a dual registration with Championship side Sheffield Eagles, is likely to be handed the unenviable task of filling Brough’s boots tomorrow when the Giants travel to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

“It was obviously disappointing news for us about Danny’s injury because he has been in consistently good form for the whole season,” said Brown.

“He had earned the right to play for England due to how he had played for the Giants so, obviously, we feel for Danny a little bit.

“It opens the door for someone else to get an opportunity and Kyle Wood will come in this week. He is a young player who has been waiting patiently for a year or so to get a shot and as one door closes for somebody another one opens.”

Captain Kevin Brown and hooker Shaun Lunt are set to return tomorrow, with Luke Robinson likely to be rested after playing for England last night.

“Kev (Brown) and Shaun (Lunt) should both be right for selection this week. Ideally we may have given them another week off but not everything is ideal,” said Brown.

In-form Giants winger David Hodgson is set to make his 300th senior appearance.

“I could never have imagined at the start of my career that I would have got to 300 games so it’s great for me and something I’m really proud of,” said 29-year-old Hodgson, who has an impressive strike rate of 137 tries in his 299 appearances to date, including six tries in his last four outings.

“The way the game is these days it’s very tough and physical so to get to 300 games is pleasing. It’s sort of crept up on me a little bit but it’s a good milestone to achieve.”

Former New Zealand half-back Motu Tony is set to make his debut for Wakefield. The 30-year-old former Hull player missed the start of the season with a broken hand and, more recently, has been on compassionate leave.

Wildcats coach John Kear also recalls another former Kiwi international Jeremy Smith after losing French hooker Julien Rinaldi with a shoulder injury.

Wakefield will give home debuts to recent signings Gareth Moore and Jarrad Hickey but back row forward Tyrone McCarthy has been recalled by Warrington.

The second Yorkshire derby of a full Sunday schedule sees wounded Leeds Rhinos host Hull KR at Headingley.

The Rhinos have suffered heavy losses in their last two games, against St Helens and Warrington. After trailing 6-4 at the break last week, Leeds crumbled to a 42-16 loss at St Helens, following a 42-6 home defeat to Warrington when the Wolves posted 30 unanswered second-half points at Headingley.

“Our last two performances have been very disappointing,” said head coach Brian McDermott.

“We obviously want to win and I’m not going to play down the fact that we haven’t beaten one of the top four teams, but our biggest concern is that we haven’t played well and we have conceded too many points.

“We have seen strong first-half performances in both games against St Helens and Warrington but we have not backed this up in the second half. We are conceding points because of what we are doing defensively and we need to change that straight away if we are going to start to challenge the teams above us.”

McDermott is a big admirer of Justin Morgan’s Rovers side, and pinpointed Michael Dobson, Scott Murrell and Ben Galea as players who could heap more misery on Leeds after a 38-28 home win at Craven Park in April.

“Given what happened at Craven Park when we travelled over there earlier in the season, Hull KR will be coming to Headingley Carnegie really confident tonight,” he said.

“If you talk about the bigger picture and how they manage games, I think Michael Dobson is integral to that and they have a kicking game that can keep a team out of the game.

“Scott Murrell is another player who is important for them and someone who is very under-rated, but he can come up with big plays and I think Ben Galea is a sensational player who has an ability to show up in the right place at the right time.”

Elsewhere tomorrow, Castleford Tigers play host to Wigan Warriors, while Harlequins are the visitors to Hull FC as Bradford Bulls entertain St Helens.

Brett Kearney, Ian Sibbit and Gareth Raynor are included to in Mick Potter’s 19-man Bulls squad.

Kearney has not played since breaking his hand against Leeds on April 21.

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