Wakefield look set to hand a debut to former Leeds and England outside back Lee Smith in Sunday’s Super League clash against the Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The 28-year-old, who was an integral member of the Wildcats side that reached the Super League play-off’s in 2012, returns to Belle Vue for the rest of the season after a brief spell in rugby union with Aviva Premiership club Newcastle.
Smith won three Grand Finals with Leeds in three different positions and played on the wing for England in the 2008 World Cup, and could be a straight replacement for New Zealand international full-back Kevin Locke who is expected to be ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury sustained in Sunday’s 58-20 defeat by Castleford.
Smith said: “I’m really excited to be back here. The club have given me a great opportunity which I am very grateful for and hopefully I can reward them.”
But the Smith signing has been overshadowed by the serious injury to Locke after he required hospital treatment after sustaining his injury.
The former New Zealand Warriors full-back, who joined Wakefield a month ago on a short-term deal after gaining a release from Salford, was led from the field clutching his shoulder after only 15 minutes of Sunday’s game against Castleford after attempting to prevent prop Grant Millington from scoring the opening try.
It was only the third match for the Wildcats for Locke, who has endured a series of injuries since making his Super League debut just over 12 months ago and was hoping to kick-start his career with the Yorkshire club.
The likely loss of Locke is also a body blow for Wakefield as they prepare to fight for their Super League survival via the Super 8s Qualifiers.
“It’s a serious arm and chest injury, and is a season-ending injury at least,” said Wakefield coach Brian Smith.
“We were counting on Kevin being an important part as we developed. but it was a horrendous injury, he was in a fair bit of pain.”
The injury to Locke compounded the misery for the Wildcats, who conceded 10 tries in a 58-20 rout by the Tigers, and Smith admitted his side had taken a step backwards after showing noticeable signs of improvement since he took charge six weeks ago.
“We had some good moments but not as many in the other games,” he said. “We let ourselves down pretty badly early in the game and it got worse.
“A lot of people have got to be accountable for the defeat – the players have and so do I. I made a lot of changes trying to decide our best line-up and our preparation was a bit askew.”
Wakefield, who gave a debut to Ireland prop Anthony Mullally in the deal which saw Daniel Smith joining the Giants, were level at 12-12 until just before the interval when Castleford’s makeshift centre Mike McMeeken went over for the first of five tries in a devastating 12-minute spell.
