Rugby League: Farrell Likely to Miss Super League Start

Andy Farrell is likely to miss the start of the Super League season for the second year running after a knee injury forced him to return home early from Wigan's training camp in Florida this week.

The Great Britain captain, who was named Man of Steel, won the Golden Boot and was awarded an MBE in the last two months of 2004, will discover the results of an exploratory operation today.

But the 29-year-old is expected to need further surgery, as he did last year, when he missed Wigan's first five matches of the season including Super League defeats at Bradford and Leeds, before returning for the Challenge Cup quarter-finals in late March.

The restructured season, with the Challenge Cup shifted back to spring and summer, means that Farrell should be available for their first tie in this year's competition in early April.

But their first Super League game at home to Salford is now little more than three weeks away, although if Farrell is missing Wigan will have an obvious replacement as captain with Kris Radlinski, who was ruled out of the Gillette Tri-Nations series last autumn by a back problem, back in full training in Florida.

Castleford have appointed Andrew Henderson, their new Australian signing from Barrow, as club captain as they aim to bounce straight back to the Super League following their relegation to National League One last season.