Castleford Tigers fans are all saying the same thing after last night

Castleford Tigers had a new name in the halves last night.

With Rowan Milnes out, Jenson Windley was named as a starter, making his very first Super League appearance – after Fletcher Rooney and George Hill had also made debuts after progressing through the Cas ranks in the past 12 months.

The game also saw the much-awaited return of hooker Paul McShane, who is reportedly heading to Australia for next season, which may be in part down to the emergence of duo Liam Horne and Cain Robb in his injury absence.

Prior to the game, head coach Craig Lingard said to the press: “There will be a debut for Jenson Windley who’ll be playing in the halves. It’s something we’ve been talking about, bringing these younger players in, and it’s an exciting moment for him to make his debut and it’s going to be a good occasion. Hopefully he grabs it with both hands.”

He certainly did that, looking impressive when taking on the line despite showing some inexperience at times.

The young man also came close to scoring with a solo effort early on and showed some real drive as he introduced himself to the Wheldon Road crowd.

Castleford Tigers fans are all saying the same thing after last night

After the game, forward and co-captain Joe Westerman took to social media to praise Windley’s performance, saying: “Result aside young Jenson Windley did himself, his family and the Cas badge proud tonight! Got a big future ahead kid keep working hard.”

In addition to this, fans agreed, sharing plenty of their own praise.

Phil Thornton: “Really impressed with his performance, top drawer, he has a great future ahead of him!”

Adrian Mannering: “He was amazing,  did the lot , his speed was great and tackling the biguns too, unlucky not to score as well. Well done young man.”

Jayne Gale: “He was a breath of fresh air.  Good to see one of our own climbing through the ranks and make it to the first team.”

Glyn Charlton: “It would have put a great finishing touch on a superb performance if he had managed to get over the line with his brilliant run early in the game. Good luck to Jensen.”

Lingard also said in the pre-match conference that we may well see similar situations going forward: “Only having five games left gives us an opportunity to try things out, like people in different positions and different combinations – and that’s what we’ll be doing between now and the end of the season.”