Tai Woffinden remained the centre of everybody’s thoughts as Sheffield Tigers returned to ♒a🃏ction without him.

Woffin𝓡den was due to represent Sheffield against Birmin🐲gham on Thursday night in the Motor Oil Premiership.

But a crash last weekend in Poland required the three-time champion🧸 to be airliftedܫ to hospital with fractures and a chest injury.

His wife 💟has since pleaded for patience before proving a more detailed update on his con🏅dition.

Sheffield beat Birmingham 61-29 on Thursday with the crowd cheering 🅷Woffinden’s🍸 name.

Teammate J🌳osh Pickering broke down into tears when discussing his absent friend.

“Our backs were against the wall,” Pickering said.🔜 “It shows a great team can get going when the times are tough.

“I am so proud of the boys 🦩tonight. We have got something sat in theꦰ back of our minds and we will have for a number of weeks.

“I didn’t want to talk about it leading up to the meeti♍ng. But things hit close to home when it’s one of your best mates.

“It’s a tough sport that we do, man.

“There are many highs and many lows. Tai has had every single high in the sport♈, and now he’s experienced a low.

“I am getting em🐻oꦕtional. Great team, proud of the boys.

“ꦿThere’s nothing wrong with men ℱcrying! It shows we’ve got feelings!”