The 2020 season wasn’t what anybody hoped or expected it to be, but few clubs will be as disappointed with their output on the field as Castleford Tigers.
These days Daryl Powell’s side start most campaigns among the favourites to make the playoffs. They went close to winning the League Leaders Shield in Powell’s second season in 2014 before finally cracking the code and winning it convincingly in 2017. They were beaten by Leeds in that year’s Grand Final but they had nevertheless arrived, or so it seemed. The days of relegation battles and scrapping around for Super League survival have largely disappeared under Powell’s leadership as they reached the playoffs again in 2018 and 2019. With that in mind an eighth placed finish in a field of just 11 in 2020 represents something close to a disaster at The Jungle. Improvement in 2021 is a must.
The 2020 campaign had promised so much before Covid-19 came along and changed everything. The Tigers were even involved in heralding in what were thought to be new beginnings for rugby league. They became the first Super League club to face Toronto Wolfpack as part of the competition’s opening day extravaganza.
Castleford’s win would later be expunged from the records amid the wreckage of the Canadian side’s abrupt withdrawal from the competition. A game that never was seems a fitting metaphor for a season that ultimately led nowhere. Yet before the league was suspended in March Powell’s men had won five of their first seven fixtures including that Toronto success. The final game before lockdown was a convincing 28-14 triumph over an out of sorts Saints. Powell’s side had also seen off Wigan, Wakefield and Hull KR during that run and lost by a single point to Warrington. The only real cause for alarm to that point had been a 36-18 loss to the Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.
Yet the Tigers won only twice more after the August restart. They took a heavy 40-14 beating by the Dragons on the day that play resumed, but were heartened by their defensive display in a dour 10-0 defeat to Saints. Only Wigan held the champions to fewer points than that after the restart. Salford matched it but did so against a youthful Saints side as Kristian Woolf rang the changes in preparation for the playoffs. But the cold, hard truth is that for all their defensive solidity at times and in particular in that narrow Saints loss, only Salford and Hull KR came out on the wrong end of the scoreline against the Tigers after lockdown
If there wasn’t too much wrong with Castleford’s defence when they applied themselves the loss of their attacking edge was more concerning. After the loss of the influential Luke Gale to Leeds Rhinos Powell turned to Danny Richardson at halfback. His partnership with Jake Trueman in the midfield looked a dream ticket and may yet prove to be, but there were teething problems in the youngsters’ first season together. Trueman was bothered by a back injury and managed only seven appearances. His fitness and continued development alongside 2018 Super League Dream Team selection Richardson will be pivotal for the Tigers in 2021. Gareth O’Brien has also been added in the wake of the Toronto debacle and will offer that little bit more experience and nous this time around. O’Brien made eight appearances on loan for the Tigers in 2020 and now makes the permanent switch.
Whoever you have at halfback you are going to need a solid pack capable of going forward to set a platform from which to play. Liam Watts has long been one of the standout front rowers in Super League while at hooker Paul McShane was so crucial to the Tigers’ effort week after week that he landed the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel Award. Their supporting cast is less convincing, to which end Powell has drafted in Suaia Matagi from Huddersfield Giants and Lewis Bienek from Hull FC. Junior Moors has moved on to Featherstone and Matt Cook to Widnes. The ageless Grant Millington adds further support alongside the class of ‘17s Nathan Massey and Jesse Sene-Lefao. George Griffin is a 2019 Grand Finalist with Salford and should prove a good addition after a difficult first year.
In the back row long time stalwart Mike McMeeken has moved on to Catalans Dragons. Sene-Lefao, Oliver Holmes, Alex Foster and Cheyse Blair look the likeliest starters there with either Adam Milner or Massey locking the now imaginary scrum.
If the forwards can start to get Castleford down the field then there may be a chance of a return to the free-flowing style of play which characterised their best teams under Powell. Full back has been a problem position since Zak Hardaker snorted his way out of the Jungle exit, demolishing those 2017 Grand Final dreams in the process.
Here to solve the problem is Niall Evalds, brought in on a one-year deal after almost 150 appearances for Salford. Evalds is one of many who caught the eye during the Red Devils’ rise from also-rans to a side featuring in major finals in both 2019 and 2020 under Ian Watson. Evalds has pace, scores tries, is a good support player and is dependable as a last line of defence.
His presence will free O’Brien up to contribute in the halves and will hopefully end Powell’s apparent devotion to the idea that Peter Mata’utia is a serviceable Super League full back. Mata’utia may be needed at centre anyway with only skipper Michael Shenton, Foster and new boy Jordan Turner providing any depth there. Turner arrives after a three and a half year stint with Huddersfield but at 32 does little to address the lack of youthful dynamism at centre.
Shenton is now 34 and Mata’utia 30. Only Foster at 27 can claim to be somewhere near his peak as an athlete and he has played his best football in the second row. Investment in a good young centre or the development of one or two in that position from the youth set-up ought to be a priority for Powell.
If those he has at his disposal for 2021 can still cut it then there are few better equipped to finish off the chances they create than Greg Eden. Once derided after Nathan Brown rashly compared him to Billy Slater, Eden has reinvented himself as a prolific try-scoring winger. His 80 tries in 75 Tigers appearances are a testament to the expansive rugby played under Powell and they go a long way to ensuring that nobody at Castleford or in the sport of rugby league remembers the name of Denny Solomona without googling Super League stats from 2016. Eden has a mistake in him, but if he is on the field the action around him should not be dull.
It is reasonable for Tigers fans to expect better from their side this time around. Better than eighth should not be a stretch. Look around the squad lists in Super League for 2021 and you will not find seven better than the one Powell presides over. A playoff place is within reach and is arguably a minimum requirement if Powell is to avoid the growing whispers that some of the magic that made the Tigers a genuine contender is wearing away. Powell may be some fans’ favourite to be the first coach to vacate his hot-seat but he will believe he still has a few surprises in store.
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