Injury concerns
Word comes to us of a few clubs with pressing injuries as the season heads towards its halfway mark. There is a rumour going round that Castleford winger Elliot Wallis may have torn his pectoral muscle, and could be out some time. Word on the street tells us that St Helens pair Jack Welsby and James Bell may be also nursing injuries. One source suggests that Welsbt has a knee problem that needs rest but can be managed at the moment. While Bell has a leg issue that can also be managed, but expect the forward to be rested after the next three games are done.

The ol switcheroo
There’s lots of gossip about player moves and deals at the moment. Two clubs that are very active are Hull FC and Castleford. There is speculation that Andre Savelio will be crossing Yorkshire to join the Tigers, while ex-Hull FC prop Liam Watts will be heading back to his old club and rejoining the Black & Whites. Both forwards are off-contract at the end of this year.

Centring away
Another player attracting some talk is Greg Minikin. Will the centre be exiting Warrington? It seems so, as he is off-contract and has not yet penned a new deal with the Wolves. Toby King is returning to Warrington next year and the club has a few good, young outside backs it wants to pin down. The Wolves would not comment when we approached them.

Magic times
Magic Weekend in Newcastle was another great time had by all. This column is a big fan of the concept and of St James’ Park. Of course, one member of the ‘media’ seemed to get a little carried away during one particular game. He was loudly cheering on a specific team, urging them on at different times and getting very animated. Can we get a little impartiality please?

New Pack of Wolves
It’s all happening across the pond in Canada with the ‘return’ of the Toronto Wolfpack. The former Super League posted a message on social media on May 1 that it would be back for the 2023 season and play 10 games at Lamport Stadium against teams from the United States and Canada. This set tongues wagging. We did some digging, and found out that the return appears legitimate with several people signing NDAs. Apparently the Wolfpack, run by owner Liverpool businessman Gary Sloane, have paid their current coaching staff with back pay from last year, and are arranging matches with clubs based in British Colombia. Sloane lives in the UK, but has family in Canada and was the individual behind the North America Rugby League (NARL) competition that never took off. The Wolfpack are going to be made up of open age players from the three existing Ontario men’s teams. Meanwhile, new club the Toronto City Saints are hosting a match this Saturday against the Delaware Black Foxes. It is supposed to be at Lamport, but the lack of rugby league posts are a problem. Rumours are that Delaware are struggling for player numbers to make the trip.

Key re-signing
It sounds like current champions St Helens have made a few key pieces of business of late. Not only is veteran forward Curtis Sironen allegedly re-signing with the club, but fellow Aussie Sione Mata’utai is as well. Both are top players and the news is a boost for Saints. It also appears as their move for Catalans back-rower Matt Whitley has also been successful, and he will be playing in greater Merseyside in 2024.

To appeal or to not appeal? That is the question
Josh McGuire has a week to appeal his ban for 12 games for verbal abuse towards a disabled individual. We asked the RFL and the Warrington forward has until next Tuesday the 13th to lodge an appeal against his huge suspension. So far the Aussie has been banned for a whopping 19 games for two instances of verbal abuse this season. A fairly crazy occurrence. Surely now the Wolves sack him?

Emergency meetings
Apparently there was an emergency board meeting held at Leeds Rhinos on Monday. We’ve been told apparently one individual was supposed to do a talk on Monday at Hunslet but had to cancel for an emergency board meeting, and Gary Hetherington had a similar engagement but supposedly had to cancel for the same reason. Why the board meeting at late notice? We do not know.