Castleford co-captain Joe Westerman has hailed team-mate George Lawler after his remarkable return from a bleed on the brain.
The England Knights forward, 28, was hospitalised in April after suffering a seizure at home. That plunged his playing future into doubt. But Lawler has thankfully recovered and his comeback has coincided with a surge in Tigers’ form.
He returned in a shock victory at St Helens, helped them win at London last week and hopes to make it three in a row when Catalans visit on Sunday on his first appearance back at Wheldon Road. Loose forward Westerman, 34, admitted: “George has pretty much just picked up from where he left off.Teenage Hull FC star Logan Moy talks about “surreal” Hull KR derby prospect
“It was obviously really scary what happened to him at the time. But you wouldn’t have realised. He’s just dropped straight back in like nothing even happened. It’s great to see. He’s one of our main players and it’s massive for us having him back. He even slotted into back-row for us last week and was great.”
The West Yorkshire club have only won five games all season but are looking to finish with flourish. Ex-England star Westerman said: “If you look at the last four games, we’ve had those two wins and lost against Hull KR and Wigan by a total of just three points.
“We’ve found a bit of form. We’re definitely turning up for each other and showing a bit of grit. If we keep doing that there’s no reason why we can’t keep turning teams over. Catalans haven’t won many on the road recently but we know it’ll be tough and we need to be at our best.”
Be the first to comment