Andy Last explains why he was pleased with Castleford Tigers’ performance despite defeat to Featherstone Rovers

Castleford Tigers may have lost to Featherstone Rovers in their first friendly going into 2023, but the young Tigers sufficiently impressed stand in coach Andy Last.

Speaking on Tigers TV after the game, Last expressed that he was happy with a lot of elements of the performance:

“Really happy, we set out some clear objectives before the game, defending with intent and trying to control the ruck.

“We wanted to play the field position and the conditions well. The first half we struggled a bit, in the second half we got really into the contest.”

He felt the game was mostly an energy battle too: “It was an energy battle out there. The free flowing rugby from Sean Long and Leon Pryce that they like to play probably wasn’t there and the type of rugby we want to play, faster and free flowing, wasn’t there.

“It was a game where we had to roll our sleeves up and play the conditions and I thought we did that well.”

From this he feels the young players will have learnt a lot:

“In Super League and every game you learn things and those young lads will have learnt how to battle back into a game on the back of grind and a good kicking game.”