Friday’s non-televised game sees the in-form Castleford Tigers playing host to the Huddersfield Giants. Daryl Powell’s men responded from a narrow 13 points to 12 loss against the Salford Red Devils two weeks ago by brushing aside the challenge of Catalans on Sunday, despite a slow start putting them 14-0 down. The Giants meanwhile couldn’t back up their well earned 16-16 draw away at Wigan as they were put to the sword by a rejuvenated Leeds side by 28 points to 12 last time out.
In case you have had your head buried in the sand recently you will have noticed that Castleford have started the season like a house on fire, playing free-flowing rugby and scoring some spectacular tries. They sit proudly at the top of the league table with Salford being the only blemish on their record. The visitors however find themselves languishing in 10th place, with them only taking 5 of a possible 14 so far.
The Tigers have named an unchanged squad from the one that defeated the Catalans Dragons last weekend. They are still without the injured Greg Minikin, who is close to a return along with forward Oliver Holmes.
Huddersfield make two changes from their home loss against the Leeds Rhinos, with the suspended Danny Brough’s place being taken by Sam Wood, and Aaron Murphy being replaced by Gene Ormsby.
Personally, I can’t see anything past a home win here, with Cas pushing on from their minor blip in form and get the win against an inferior giants outfit. On the other hand, not many predicted Huddersfield taking a point away at Wigan, and with two missed drop goal attempts, they could have gone on to win it. Ultimately, the absence of Danny Brough is huge for the giants, and because of this, the tigers will be backing themselves to maintain their place at the Super League summit.
Castleford Tigers: Rangi Chase, Matt Cook, Greg Eden, Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker, Oliver Holmes, Andy Lynch, Nathan Massey, Paul McShane, Mike McMeeken, Grant Millington, Adam Milner, Joel Monaghan, Junior Moors, Ben Roberts, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Michael Shenton, Gadwin Springer, Jake Webster
Huddersfield Giants: Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe, Lee Gaskell, Ryan Brierley, Sam Rapira, Ryan Hinchcliffe, Shannon Wakeman, Dale Ferguson, Kruise Leeming, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Oliver Roberts, Ukuma Ta’ai, Paul Clough, Daniel Smith, Gene Ormsby, Tyler Dickinson, Sam Wood, Darnell McIntosh, Alex Mellor
