York Knights approve Wakefield’s decision to recall Oli Pratt

Pratt will be absent from York’s game against the London Broncos on Sunday (3pm) after parent club Wakefield decided to bring the youngster back from his time with the Knights for just a weekend.

Henderson admitted he agrees with the decision as Pratt would have been level on points in the Knights Cup anyway.

“I spoke to Mark Applegarth earlier in the week, he just told me they were going to call Oli back as it was Challenge Cup week and he would have been a tie in the cup.

“I understand that perfectly, I can’t disagree with that. They’re really happy with how he’s developing here with us and he said next weekend he won’t be a problem for you.”

“That could change if they suffer multiple injuries in their game this weekend, it could change and we always have to be prepared for that.”

“But the plan is for him to come back and be with us from next week.”

Conor Barley is another player recalled from his loan period with the Knights and Henderson admitted it would be a permanent recall for now.

“Right now it is.” Henderson confirmed.

Henderson also provided an update on the situation with Ata Hingano, who was substituted at half-time in Sunday’s win over Newcastle Thunder.

The Knights head coach also confirmed that Pauli Pauli is able to walk again while he continues to recover from a long-term cruciate ligament injury.

“We’re just judging him at the moment, he’s picked up a minor hamstring injury. We’re just looking at that at the moment.”

“I’m not going to discuss injuries too much, it seems like a bit of a comment every week!”

“The reality is we have some people on the sidelines who aren’t too far away. We may have a player coming back this week and we took a few hits over the weekend and we’re evaluating those at the moment.

“Whether or not they’re up for pick this week, we’ll know by the end of the week.

“We have to wait until Sunday and see what team we have out there. By then, you’ll know who’s out through injury and who’s not.”

“[Pauli Pauli] is struggling with a cruciate ligament injury from which some people recover faster than others.

“It’s one of those ones where some people can recover in about nine months, others take 12 months, it all depends on their stage of progress as they try to rehabilitate and strengthen it and so on.”

“He’s back on track now, which is positive, but I can’t tell you how far away he’s going to be.”