After initially being told his season was over, Castleford scrum-half Luke Gale said yesterday that he is ready to step back in to help his club reach a maiden Super League Grand Final.

The 29-year-old England international, who is expected to be England’s first-choice No 7 for the end-of-season World Cup, underwent emergency surgery to remove his appendix just 14 days ago but is poised to play against St Helens in Thursday’s first play-off semi-final.

“I’m taking each day as it comes,” he said after being named in the Super League Dream Team for the third successive year after a record-breaking season with the table-toppers. “I keep pushing it day by day and it’s progressing slowly but surely.