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Men's Rugby League Huddersfield's Hinchcliffe will play through jaw injury to help teammates

Huddersfield’s Australian forward Ryan Hinchcliffe will defy a jaw injury to make his final appearance at Stadium Way against Wigan tonight.

The former Melbourne hooker, who turns 34 in October, is hanging up his boots at the end of the season, which for the Giants will come in Perpignan on Saturday week.

Before then, Hinchcliffe will once more put himself through the pain barrier to attempt to halt Huddersfield’s three-match losing run against a Wigan side seeking to secure a home semi-final.

“He’s had a sore jaw for a couple of weeks and we got him in for a scan,” said Giants coach Simon Woolford.

“Originally they said his jaw was broken, but another specialist said there was no crack there, it’s just bruising.

“So Hinchy is fine. He’s one of the tough ones in the team and he’s played injured plenty of times before. There’s no risk, it’s a bit of bruising and he’s coped with it for a few weeks now.

“It will take a fair bit for Hinchy to miss his last couple of games.”

Woolford admitted the Giants were “a tired team” after last Thursday’s 44-12 defeat at Castleford, where they conceded five tries in the last quarter, but he is confident he can lift them for two more rounds of the Super 8s.

“We’ve freshened them up a little bit this week,” Woolford said. “We cancelled one training session and we have a couple of boys back this week in Alex Mellor and Colton Roche.

“We’ve still got two games to go and it’s Ryan Hinchcliffe’s last home game for the club and it would be nice to send him off with a couple of wins so there’s still a lot to play for.”

Wigan suffered a 20-12 defeat at Stadium Way two months ago but are the only team with a 100 per cent record in the Super 8s and are now seen by many as the favourites for the title.

“It’s great that we’re on a roll,” said coach Shaun Wane. “The team spirit is fantastic and there’s a lot of want in the room.

“We’re doing OK at the minute but our focus is only on Huddersfield.

“The weather looks poor so it’ll be a game of field position and not making many mistakes. It’s always a test there.”

Veteran half-back or hooker Tommy Leuluai will make his 250th appearance for the Warriors, but forwards Willie Isa and Ben Flower are sidelined through injury.

Huddersfield have lost three-quarters Jordan Turner and Jake Wardle to injury, so Woolford is set to switch Jake Mamo to centre for what is expected to be his last home game for the club as, like Hinchcliffe, he prepares to return to Australia.

Woolford will also give a fifth Super League appearance to scrum-half Olly Russell and use the versatile Lee Gaskell at full-back in place of Jordan Rankin.

“We’re tinkering with it,” Woolford said. “We’re looking to next year by trying something different.”

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