Castleford Tigers bounced back to winning ways by beating Bradford Bulls 40-28 at Wheldon Road on Thursday evening.
Here’s our talking points.
Castleford respond
The Tigers looks down and out last week as Warrington Wolves humiliated them at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. They were abysmal, atrocious and downright awful as the Wolves ran in 72 points on home soil and piled the misery on Ryan Carr’s side.
The head coach was brutally honest in his appraisal, though, and it’s fair to say his side produced a response on the pitch five days on as they played with pride and passion to reward those in attendance for their faith. Castleford actually fell behind in the game as Esan Marsters got over inside a couple of minutes.
At that point, home fans could be forgiven for fearing the worst once more, but the Tigers responded well and showed the grit they were missing last week to bounce back through Jason Qareqare, who found plenty of joy down the Bulls’ right edge all night.
In fact, the Fijian scored Castleford’s second, taking advantage of some poor defence from the Bulls. Joe Mellor finished a superb team move to put the Bulls back in front in a first half that ebbed and flowed before Darnell McIntosh got a third Tigers try and Qareqare completed a first half hat-trick just before the break.
George Lawler and Tom Weaver got over at the start of the second half, too, as the Tigers fully asserted themselves upon their visitors. McIntosh scored a second to ensure his side hit the 40-mark.
Luke Hooley and Marsters went on to touch down for the Bulls, but they were ultimately consolation efforts.
Bradford’s right edge
It must be said that Kurt Haggerty’s decision to drop Connor Wynne at Wheldon Road felt harsh before kick-off, with Luke Hooley being named on the right wing for the Bulls. Hooley has been seen in the spine so far this season and he never truly seemed to grasp the wing position, especially in defence with his decision making and positioning being questionable at times.
Qareqare exploited his inexperience on that edge in the first half by scoring three tries in the corner, and Krystian Mapapalangi had an excellent game at centre, too.
The Bulls take on Leeds Rhinos next week and it would be fair to assume that Wynne might come back into the fold.
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Valemei blow
Castleford were dealt a blow just before the break when star winger Semi Valemei was helped from the field after taking a blow to the head. The winger put his all into chasing a kick and as he attempted to put a hit on full-back Caleb Aekins, he took a knock on the head that left him laid out on the turf for a period.
He was taken off for a HIA and never returned, ensuring the former North Queensland Cowboys man, who was playing just his second game for the club after overcoming a hamstring injury, will miss the derby clash with Wakefield Trinity next week.
Ravalawa left out
Mikaele Ravalawa had been an ever present in the Castleford side before Thursday night and that made his absence on the teamsheet all the more conspicuous. It’s not clear whether the winger was dropped or left out through injury, but the suspicion is the former, with the winger being one of those to struggle last week at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Ravalawa has struggled for form since arriving in Super League and with Mapapalangi coming in, he was the unfortunate outside back to drop out. Whether he comes back into the side for Rivals Round next week remains to be seen, but Valemei’s failed HIA might just open the door to the big man.
