Disappointed Lee Radford opens up on Joe Westerman situation

In terms of starts to seasons, it looked as if Lee Radford’s Castleford Tigers were enduring the worst possible start when they trailed 26-6 at the break away at Radford’s former club Hull FC.

To their credit, they battled back brilliantly and nearly pinched it after getting back to 32-30.

After the game, Radford told BBC Sport West Yorkshire that he was disappointed with the display:

“Probably not the result I wanted and not the performance either. Really really disappointed with the start, it took us 60 minutes to get going and it probably says a lot about both teams defence with a 32-30 score line.

“We had a lack of desire to take them anywhere tough and we didn’t want to go tough either. That was a real frustration because we’ve had an awful long time to build to this fixture, so to start so reluctant to be tough was a real forestation.

“It looks disgusting outside but ultimately it’s the ruck, it all starts with the ruck and the quick play the ball. The detail in the ruck was woeful for a team that has worked so hard in that area throughout the pre-season. For Brad Dwyer to go straight over your ruck I think the first set of the game says a lot about your defensive mentality.”

The game was overshadowed by the situation with Joe Westerman. A video of him was circulated online last week resulting in a fine for him from the club but he still started yesterday.

In fact, Hull FC fans’ chants about the situation seemed to spark them into life.

When asked if he wished the Westerman chants started earlier, he said: “I thought the first time we challenged them set for set was the 60th minute, to wait that long and get in that grind is disgusting.”

Meanwhile, when asked how Westerman handled the situation, Radford noted: “Okay in terms of performance, like a lot of the other players within the group. Not where we need to be and not as individuals and probably not where we need to be as a team either.