Castleford Tigers have again boosted the Whitehaven squad for tomorrow’s home game with Bradford Bulls.
Will Groves, a young second row forward, will be in the Haven squad for the Championship clash at the LEL Arena.
He will be joining Haven initially on a two week loan and joins club mate George Hill who has played in the last two games for the Cumbrians.
His arrival means that coach Jonty Gorley can name 18 players for the game although one of them, club captain Karl Dixon has not played for weeks because of injury.
Gorley is looking for a positive response from his side after what he called “an embarrassing performance” in last week’s 30-12 defeat at bottom side Newcastle Thunder.
He still has several key players missing with injury while three forwards have withdrawn their services from the club.
Bradford’s interim coach Lee Greenwood says that Whitehaven will be desperate for a bumper crowd to help boost the club’s ailing finances and believes the whole mood around the club could make them a danger.
He told the club website: “We know they’re a team fighting for their lives and existence and their players are playing for more than just rugby at the moment.
“They’re struggling to be paid, but there’ll still be 17 proud lads out there for them, and we go up there expecting the best of Whitehaven.”
But Greenwood is backing his Bradford side to get the job done, saying: “We’re confident for Whitehaven, as it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see what went wrong on Monday against Widnes.
“It’s straightforward and there doesn’t need to be too much technical analysis, because we just have to cut out the errors, stick to the rules of the game, and not drop the ball.”
Whitehaven squad: Dave Eccleston, Chris Taylor, Curtis Teare, Karl Dixon, Connor Holliday, Lachlan Lanskey, Dion Aiye, James Newton, Lasarusa Tabu, Perry Singleton, Ryan King, Lucas Castle, Josh Rourke, Daniel Spencer-Tonks, Jake Carter, Ross Ainley, George Hill, Will Groves.
Bradford Bulls: Keven Appo, Jason Baitieri, Ben Blackmore, Chester Butler, George Flanagan senior, David Foggin-Johnston, Brad Foster, Lee Gaskell, Kieran Gill, Billy Jowitt, Michael Lawrence, Jordan Lilley, Masi Matongo, Jayden Myers, Daniel Okoro, Dec Patton, Ebon Scurr, James Segeyard, Jorge Taufua, AJ Wallace, Connor Wynne.
