Wednesday 5 December 2018 20:42, UK
Castleford forward Oliver Holmes, who made his England debut in October, will miss the first month of the 2019 Betfred Super League season because of injury, the Tigers have announced.
The club say the second rower was nursing a shoulder injury when he played against France and went on the end-of-season England Knights tour to Papua New Guinea which proved to be more serious than thought.
Holmes has been told he needs surgery which will rule him out of the entire pre-season.
Castleford physiotherapist Matty Crowther told the club's website: "Oliver Holmes has been nursing a shoulder injury for quite some time, which people haven't realised.
"He came back from the tour with England Knights and we got him scanned and realised his shoulder was a little bit worse than we thought and he needed surgery on it.
"So, Oliver is going to be missing for three to four months but we feel that this is the right time to do it and get him back for maybe a month into the season, ready for a very strong finish from Oliver."
Castleford suffered another injury blow when rangy forward Will Maher suffered a ruptured pectoral muscle during the first session of pre-season training.
Maher, who made just three appearances for the Tigers in 2018 when he played dual registration with Halifax, has already undergone surgery.
Crowther said: "It's just a very unfortunate injury on day one. The fortunate part is that he'll be back within three months, so it will take him the full pre-season."
