Castleford Tigers vs Warrington Wolves: Team news, match preview and score prediction

Daryl Powell’s new club take on his former club as his new project at the Halliwell Jones Stadium begins to become clearer and clearer.

His time at Warrington took a gigantic step in the right direction last week when the Wolves battered the high flying Dragons and they can cement that momentum against his successor’s Castleford side.

The momentum Lee Radford had built at Castleford hit a brick wall last week at the Magic Weekend meaning that a win here is paramount.

Team News

The Tigers have been boosted by the return of Paul McShane from his ban as well as the bold move to recall Gareth O’Brien to the 21-man squad even though it had been hinted at that it would take some time for him to return from injury. Liam Watts has dropped out of the squad through suspension.

Mike Cooper and Kyle Amor are still absent for Warrington who have of course lost the supposedly Castleford bound Gareth Widdop to a dislocated shoulder.

Match Preview – Score Prediction:

Jake Mamo vs Jake Wardle: The battle of the Jakes as Warrington’s former Warrington centre takes on their newest centre in a battle between elusive and quick players. Both could conjure up moments of magic that could sway this game.

Danny Richardson vs George Williams: There’s lots of pressure on Danny Richardson with all of his natural halfback partners absent. He’ll need to step up to give the Tigers a route to victory. He’ll be up against George Williams who looked back to his best last week and will look to test the Tigers with his running game.

Kenny Edwards vs Matty Nicholson: What a debut from Matty Nicholson last week as he scored a try and picked up the Man of the Match. He has all the attributes needed to be a top backrower and he’ll test himself against one of the best in Edwards.

Where the game will be won and lost:

Leeds gave Warrington the blueprint to beating Castleford last week. Like Leeds, Warrington’s pack is experiencing an evolution and isn’t as conventional as the Tigers’. So, the Wolves will have to try and move the Tigers around and stretch them if they want the points. Based on their win over Catalans, they’re more than capable.

Score Prediction: Castleford Tigers 22-20 Warrington Wolves