Championship

Keighley Cougars vs Castleford Tigers: Kick-off time and team news as massive debuts ready

by
Cam Pattison
January 22, 2023

Both Keighley Cougars and Castleford Tigers will pay tribute to the past today as they celebrate the career of former Grand Finalist Jake Webster.

However, they will both look to the future as they award big debuts to star signings this afternoon.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Kick-off time

The game kicks off at 15:00 at Cougar Park.

Team News

The most talked-about man of the off-season has been Luke Gale and his shock switch to the Championship, but also newly promoted Keighley.

That acquisition put down a marker but adding in Ben Crooks from Hull KR and Brad Walker from Wakefield Trinity among a host of others has highlighted that they’re seriously challenging for back to back promotions.

Such a feat would be close to unthinkable and surely one of the most impressive in rugby league history, but heading into Sunday’s matchup their squad announcement has highlighted that they could be serious challengers.

Keighley wasted no time in confirming that their star signing would feature against his old club as they revealed his inclusion prior to even the man the match is for, the other former Castleford Tigers’ star in Jake Webster.

𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫, 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔞 𝔰𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔯

😍 We can confirm that @snozzer_gale will turn out as a Cougar for the first time this Sunday afternoon in the @jw3testimonial match!

🙌 Be there and don't miss out!

🎟️ https://t.co/Gb414h9PxL #JW3 pic.twitter.com/DGnHZeGaBu

— Keighley Cougars (@Cougarmania) January 20, 2023

Webster of course also plays in his testimonial with the 39-year-old going for another season on the back of his brilliant career.

The Australian featured as a powerful try-scoring centre at the Jungle from 2012 to 2018 whilst Gale operated in the middle of the park there from 2015-2019 including during their epic 2017 campaign during which Gale earned the Man of Steel Award.

The Cougars confirmed their squad yesterday morning with Alix Stephenson (Leg) ruled out through an injury sustained against the Thunder whilst both Josh Lynam and Anesu Mudoti miss out on a place in the squad for this Sunday.

Brad Walker (Shoulder) and Lloyd Roby (Knee) are continuing their rehabilitation from injury whilst Thomas Doyle is still serving a suspension with the hooker unavailable until the Round 2 fixture away at Widnes Vikings.

As for Castleford, senior players such as Liam Watts, George Griffin, Nathan Massey, Adam Milner, and Jordan Turner, along with Kenny Edwards, George Lawler, Alex Mellor, and Jake Mamo are all in contention for their first hit-outs this pre-season.

The Fords faithful will also excitably notice the name of new signing Albert Vete on the squad list with the bulldozing prop eager to make an impression on potentially his first appearance in a Tigers jumper.