Super League 2020 Preview - Castleford Tigers

Some things get progressively worse. British politics for example. Game Of Thrones. My kidneys. Castleford Tigers.

It is only just over two years since the Tigers were celebrating at their ludicrously named Mend-A-Hose Jungle home having destroyed the Super League competition and finished 10 points clear of the rest. A repeat of that the following year always seemed unlikely so a third-placed finish in 2018 hardly represented a crisis. Yet when they slipped to fifth last year and crashed out of the playoffs after being mercilessly nilled by an upstart Salford side there had to have been alarm bells ringing in the ears of not just the fans but of coach Daryl Powell.

In many ways 2020 represents a new era for Castleford. The transfer of Luke Gale to Leeds Rhinos might be seen as a blow, but it does mean that they can finally stop relying on a player who is almost permanently injured. The shadow of Gale hung over Castleford for what seemed like years as he sat out the whole of last season. Now Tigers fans can look forward to the development of a fresh and exciting new halfback partnership as Jake Trueman looks set to link up with former Saints starlet and 2018 Dream Team member Danny Richardson. The Widnesian scrum half is one of five new faces at the club, with 2019 Grand Finalist George Griffin, former Toulouse forward Tyler Hepi, ex-Cronulla winger Sosaia Feki and another former Salford man Derrell Olpherts all pulling on the Tigers shirt in 2020.

Although only five new faces have arrived there are a host of players heading out of the door as Powell sets about the task of trying to reverse the Tigers’ gradual decline. Greg Minikin, Will Maher and Jamie Ellis have all moved to Hull KR to take part in their annual staff overhaul while young half Cory Aston joins utility back Tuoyo Egodo at London Broncos in the Championship. That two players who featured quite regularly for the Tigers in 2019 are now deemed only good enough for the Championship might say something about the injury crisis that Powell was so keen to let everyone know about throughout the last campaign. They often found themselves having to rely on the back-ups who perhaps did not quite possess the quality of the regulars. Prop forward Mitch Clark might be a more damaging loss as he joins Wigan and Joe Wardle has made his loan move to Huddersfield Giants permanent.

How might the Tigers might look when they run out on to the field for their opening Super League fixture at Headingley against Toronto Wolfpack (yes, you read that right and don’t ask)? Jordan Rankin had a successful spell on loan from Huddersfield Giants last year and makes that move a permanent one. His main competition appears to come from Peter Mata’utia, a man whose propensity for brilliance is rivalled only by his potential for absolute and complete disaster. Feki should come in on one wing with one-time Super League try-scoring machine Greg Eden on the other. Like Mata’utia, it seems that when Eden is not scoring bucketloads of tries as he did in 2017 he is making the kind of epic mistakes which persuade Powell to enter the field of play, chunnering under his breath and copping a £5,000 fine for his troubles. Yet if he gets the service Eden will be a constant nuisance to any scoreboard operators hoping to have a quiet nap during the ‘arm wrestle’. Feki is no stranger to a try-line himself having crossed for 67 meat pies in 148 games for the Sharks in a seven season spell which included an appearance in the 2016 NRL Grand Final success over Melbourne Storm. That title-winning experience could prove vital to a Castleford side which currently only contains a group of talented nearly men.

With Minikin gone Cheyse Blair and Michael Shenton look the likely centre pairing. These eyes suggest that Blair is not a huge upgrade on Minikin but in Shenton the Tigers have one of the most reliable and effective players around. He was one of those so sorely missed through injury last year and if he can have a healthier season this time around then the Tigers performance should improve dramatically.

If the young halfback duo are going to prosper they are going to need a formidable pack to play behind. Liam Watts is a good place to start if you are building a forward-line for an assault on the Super League title, but the rest are not quite at his level. Matt Cook might be the standout among them although the entertaining Grant Millington and Junior Moors will also look to make waves. Nathan Massey rarely lets the side down but there has to be a question mark over whether this group is an elite one at this level and whether it can offer the security that will enable the talents of Trueman and Richardson to blossom. There is no problem at nine for the Tigers. Paul McShane is one of the best hookers in the competition and perhaps the best never to have been called up by England. His chances of changing that unfortunate blot on his copybook aren’t likely to change with Josh Hodgson, Daryl Clark, James Roby and probably even Danny Houghton ahead of him in the pecking order but he remains one of Powell’s most important assets.

Griffin should add plenty to the back row where Jesse Sene-Lefao is still an exciting if flawed presence. Injuries mean we did not see the best of Mike McMeeken in 2019 but if he can get back to the form that saw him break into the England squad in the Tigers’ League Leaders Shield winning year then there is reason for optimism. Alex Foster, Oliver Holmes and Moors offer more options there while at loose forward Adam Milner or Massey are very dependable. The squad has reasonable depth with Foster, Olpherts, Daniel Smith, Hepi and James Clare also pushing for playing time.

A lesson from last season is to be less reliant on the kicking game. Nobody made more than the Tigers’ 371 attacking kicks in 2019, a stat which might suggest that there is a lack of cutting edge. Only Saints made more metres than Castleford last season and only Leeds and Warrington liked an offload more often. So why then did Castleford only rank sixth in try-scoring with 111 tries at 3.82 per game? Perhaps the creative skills of Trueman and Richardson allied to the try-scoring prowess that we know Feki and Eden possess will put that right in 2020.

Once Toronto are out of the way on the opening weekend the next assignment is the visit of Clark and the Warriors before a round 3 trip to Perpignan on February 15. A West Yorkshire derby at home to Wakefield in round 4 is followed by a Thursday night trip to Hull KR in the glare of the Sky TV cameras. After that it is last season’s top three with Warrington away on March 6, Saints at home on March 15 and a visit to Salford on March 20. By the end of all that we should know a lot more about whether Castleford are going to bounce back from their recent decline to become a major force, or whether they have the potential to miss the playoff series for the first time since 2016. I just have a nagging doubt that it could be the latter. Leeds are an improving force, Salford coach Ian Watson has proved that he can work relative miracles and Hull FC have recruited well in their bid to rid themselves of the inconsistency that plagued their 2019 campaign too. All of these are a threat as well as the traditional heavyweights of Saints, Wigan and Warrington. With only five places up for grabs it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Tigers downward trend over the last couple of seasons will continue.