Castleford Tigers host Leigh Leopards on Saturday night in Round Seven of Super League and both teams have now confirmed their 21-man squads.
It’s a second trip to West Yorkshire in the space of a week for Leigh with the Leopards victorious in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals against Wakefield Trinity last Friday. That 20-12 win was in stark contrast to the 40-14 defeat they had suffered at home a week prior to the same opponents.
As for Castleford, they will have had another hard week of training with the Tigers dumped from the cup at the first time of asking with Danny McGuire’s team the only Super League side to lose to lower league opposition.
They’ve also not fared much better against Super League opposition with their only win coming against cash-strapped Salford who are in their own spate of poor form.
That win came over a month ago and has been followed by two defeats making Saturday’s game all the more important.
Castleford Tigers team news
Hull KR loanee Lee Kershaw is straight back in the mix after returning to the Jungle with the winger expected to start following the ban handed down to Innes Senior.
That is one of the changes made by Danny McGuire with the other also involving a winger as Jason Qareqare returns in place of prop Brad Singleton, meaning Danny McGuire will have a choice to make in terms of who starts in his outside backs.
Jeremiah Simbiken also returns to offer the forward pack some more power after picking up an apparent hamstring injury against Catalans Dragons in Round Five.
Liam Horne who was dropped from the matchday squad against Hull FC is named once again.
Castleford Tigers 21-man squad: Tex Hoy, Josh Simm, Zac Cini, Sam Wood, Lee Kershaw, Daejarn Asi, Rowan Milnes, George Lawler, Liam Horne, Muizz Mustapha, Jeremiah Simbiken, Alex Mellor, Joe Westerman, Cain Robb, George Griffin, Sylvester Namo, Dan Okoro, Judah Rimbu, Jenson Windley, Jason Qareqare, Josh Hodson
21-MAN SQUAD 🔒#COYF 🐯 pic.twitter.com/TIWtzxYvSC
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) April 10, 2025
Leigh Leopards team news
The changes for Adrian Lam come primarily in his outside backs with centre Umyla Hanley dropping out after it was revealed he had a “niggle” but he’s replaced by winger Darnell McIntosh who Lam had described as an ‘X-factor’ player.
Josh Charnley is in the squad once again but it’s unclear if he will play but the other key change sees Ethan O’Neill drop out to be replaced by Andrew Badrock. That could mean more minutes for either Badrock or Louis Brogan.
Keanan Brand is included despite Lam listing him as another who had a ‘niggle’ meaning a new-look backline could be named with the likes of McIntosh, Charnley and Bailey Hodgson all options.
Leigh Leopards 21-man squad: David Armstrong, Darnell McIntosh, Tesi Niu, Josh Charnley, Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam, Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Frankie Halton, Jack Hughes, Isaac Liu, Aaron Pene, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis, Brad Dwyer, Keanan Brand, Louis Brogan, Andrew Badrock, Ben McNamara, Bailey Hodgson
🐆 𝟮𝟭 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗
Adrian has chosen his 21 man squad ahead of this weekend’s big-cat clash at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle. pic.twitter.com/EnUMrB3t12
— Leigh Leopards (@LeighLeopardsRL) April 10, 2025
