Castleford Tigers set to do battle with local rivals Leeds Rhinos

Castleford Tigers welcome a resurgent Leeds Rhinos to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Thursday as they look to secure their first win of the season.

Castleford have had a turbulent start to the season. Poor performances in the opening fixtures have left the club 11^th in the table, only above local rivals Wakefield Trinity on point’s difference.

Defensively, they have been all over the shop. The Tigers have shipped 128 points so far this season and are the second worst defence in the league at the moment. This will need to be fixed promptly if they stand a chance of beating the Rhinos on Thursday night.

In attack, the Tigers have shown glimpses of their quality, but it hasn’t been consistent enough to secure a victory.

In round one, it came too late in the day to complete the comeback against Hull FC. In round two, they created plenty of chances but their accuracy was lacking and they let the chances go begging. They also started brightly against Huddersfield last week, but again it wasn’t consistent enough to trouble the Giants over the 80 minutes.

Their attack functions best when getting the ball out wide early in the set, as this has allowed them to get the likes of Jack Broadbent and Bureta Faraimo into space and threaten the line. Greg Eden is now back in the fold and he will also thrive if they go back to this game plan.

If Castleford are to stop the slump, they need to return to this attacking style and pose questions to the Rhinos early doors.

The performance of Jacob Miller is crucial to the Fords. He has made a bright start to life at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, and will need to carry this on against Leeds on Thursday. He is starting to gel with Gareth Widdop, and if this clicks on Thursday they could really damage Leeds.

Turning our attention to Leeds, they are a team on the up. Opening round defeats to Warrington and Hull FC have been rectified with improved performances, and more importantly wins over St Helens and Wakefield.

The wins over the Saints and Wakefield came in very different ways. Against St Helens, they played an unstructured game and tended to attack from deep.

Against Wakefield, they turned to a more direct approach through the middle, coupled with quick snipes out of dummy half. This drew in the Wakefield defence, which allowed the backline to move the ball out wide and create chances to score.

This variation of attacking styles will be causing Castleford plenty of headaches ahead of the game, and both are equally as effective in getting the Rhinos on the board.

The combinations in the backline have started to click, which was missing in the opening two rounds. Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer and Richie Myler are all now having big involvements and the Rhinos are reaping the rewards. This trio linked up very well in creating David Fusitu’a’s tries on Friday, and the Headingley faithful will be wanting to see more from them on Thursday.

Jarrod O’Connor at hooker has been a revelation under Rohan Smith. His performance was a big reason why the Rhinos were able to get away from Wakefield in the second half, and Rhinos fans will be hoping for another quality showing from him.

In team news, interim Head Coach Andy Last has made two changes to the 21-man squad, in the shape of Jordan Turner and Sam Hall. He has also included former Rhinos Jack Broadbent and Muizz Mustapha in the squad, who have both impressed this season.

Daniel Smith is in line to make his 150^th Super League appearance, and George Lawler is also in line for his 100^th Super League appearance.

George Griffin and Alex Sutcliffe will miss the match after both picked up head knocks in last week’s defeat to Huddersfield.

For Leeds, Rohan Smith has named his 21-man squad. Harry Newman and James Bentley are included after impressive displays on their returns to Super League action.

Justin Sanagare is named after missing the Wakefield game due to the birth of his child. He is one of five props named in the 21-man squad, with Tom Holroyd, Zane Tetevano, Sam Lisone and the versatile Sam Walters also included in the squad.

Derrell Olpherts will face his old club and is in line to make his 100^th Super League appearance. Kruise Leeming also returns to the squad after missing the game on Friday through injury. Ash Handley will miss the game due to an ankle injury picked up against Wakefield.

21-man squads:

Castleford Tigers: 2. Greg Eden, 3. Jordan Turner, 4. Mahe Fonua, 5. Bureta Faraimo, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Jacob Miller, 8. George Lawler, 9. Paul McShane, 11. Kenny Edwards, 12. Alex Mellor, 13. Joe Westerman, 14. Nathan Massey, 16. Adam Milner, 17. Jack Broadbent, 19. Albert Vete, 20. Muizz Mustapha, 22. Daniel Smith, 23. Suaia Matagi, 28. Sam Hall, 31. Jason Qaregare, 32. Liam Watts

Leeds Rhinos: 1. Richie Myler, 2. David Fusitu’a, 3. Harry Newman, 4. Nene MacDonald, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 9. Kruise Leeming, 10. Zane Tetevano, 11. James Bentley, 12. Rhyse Martin, 13. Cameron Smith, 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 15. Sam Lisone, 16. Derrell Olpherts, 17. Justin Sangare, 18. Tom Holroyd, 19. James McDonnell, 22. Sam Walters, 24. Luis Roberts, 25. James Donaldson, 26. Corey Johnson

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