It’s do or die for Daryl Powell and his Castleford Tigers at the Jungle tonight. It’s his last game in charge of the Tigers at home and it could prove to be his final game with Castleford in general if they fail to beat his future club Warrington. Only a win will do for him and Castleford tonight as they look to seal their place inside the top six.
There’s good news for the Tigers going into tonight’s clash. Their spine should look a lot more natural with Gareth O’Brien expected to return to the fold. He’ll come into the halves allowing Peter Mata’utia – who’ll join Powell at Warrington next year – to move back to centre enabling Jordan Turner to return to the wing. Talisman Paul McShane could also make a remarkable return from injury to take over at nine giving the Tigers an extra dimension. Michael Shenton will make his final appearance in front of the Cas fans ahead of his retirement and Warrington bound Oliver Holmes is heartbreakingly unavailable.
McShane’s return could mean all the more when you consider the fact Warrington won’t have a natural nine on the field with Daryl Clark and Danny Walker unavailable. Even stand-in hooker Matt Davis will be absent through injury, so Jason Clark – who played in the role for South Sydney back in his NRL days – could step in. Blake Austin starred at second-row last week, but this time around he’ll be asked to start on the bench as the Wolves pack takes on a much more natural look. Meanwhile, Connor Wrench will step in to fill the void left by Toby King.
Castleford
1 Niall Evalds
2 Derrell Olpherts
3 Peter Mata’utia
4 Michael Shenton
25 Jordan Turner
31 Gareth O’Brien
7 Danny Richardson
15 George Griffin
9 Paul McShane
10 Grant Millington
12 Cheyse Blair
21 Jesse Sene-Lefao
14 Nathan Massey
Substitutes
8 Liam Watts
13 Adam Milner
22 Daniel Smith
24 Suaia Matagi
Warrington
1 Stefan Ratchford
5 Josh Charnley
27 Connor Wrench
18 Jake Mamo
2 Tom Lineham
7 Gareth Widdop
31 George Williams
8 Chris Hill
14 Jason Clark
10 Mike Cooper
11 Ben Currie
12 Jack Hughes
13 Joe Philbin
Substitutes
6 Blake Austin
19 Rob Mulhern
20 Sitaleki Akauola
26 Ellis Longstaff
