Saints have to wait on Fages head injury

ST Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham will be waiting to see if half back Theo Fages will be fit to face Huddersfield Giants at Langtree Park on Friday night.

The 22-year-old suffered a head injury in Saints 22-14 defeat against his former club Salford Red Devils.

But Cunningham is also keen to see his side produced a stronger performance against the Giants.

“We just weren’t quite good enough at controlling the ruck in that first period at Salford,” said Cunningham.

“I thought we had been brilliant at that in the last two weeks so to start the game playing second-fiddle in the ruck a little bit really hurt us.

“However, losing Theo sort of upset everything and we looked really clunky in that first half.

“You don’t have people on your bench for that, but we juggled things around at half-time and then it started to flow a little bit better for us.” ■■Huddersfield Giants commercial executive and former Huddersfield player Brian Blacker, will be the guest speaker at today’s Senior Giants meeting.

The Senior Giants meeting will commence at 2.15pm in the Radcliffe Suite at Canalside on April 5 and is free to all supporters. ■■Leeds forward Brett Ferres has been given a six-match ban for a “crusher” tackle on Wigan centre Oliver Gildart.

The 30-year-old ex-Giants second rower was found guilty of a grade E offence of making dangerous contact on Gildart, who according to his coach Shaun Wane is set to be sidelined for two to three months with a serious back injury.

Ferres, who was also fined £300, will miss the Rhinos’ next four Betfred Super League matches and two rounds of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

The suspension equals the record for a Leeds player in the summer era. Prop Brad Singleton is half-way through a six-match ban imposed for a high tackle on Catalans Dragons forward Greg Bird.

Ferres was sent to the sin bin for the tackle on Gildart during the Rhinos’ 26-18 win over Wigan at Headingley last Friday.

A “crusher” tackle is described as a defending player, in or after effecting a tackle, using any part of his body forcefully to bend or apply unnecessary pressure to the head and/or neck and/or spinal column of the tackled player so as to keep the tackled player at a disadvantage in or after the tackle. Fryston Warriors v Upton, Lindley Swifts v Underbank Rangers Wyke v Brighouse Rangers (to be played Wednesday, April 12) Siddal v Selby Warriors