Leeds Rhinos vs Castleford Tigers: Kick-off time, TV channel and predicted line-ups

This West Yorkshire derby is always big but as both teams come into the game on the back of big wins, it’s takes on added significance.

Castleford are looking to solidify their play-off spot whilst Leeds’ huge win over Hull FC last week showed that Leeds can still be a dangerous team in 2022 and could still make the top six.

They’ll have to win here though to give themselves the best chance of doing so.

Kick-off time and TV channel

The game kicks off at 19:00.

Coverage is on Sky Sports Mix as the first day of the Magic Weekend comes to a close.

Leeds Rhinos
The last player Leeds would have wanted to lose ahead of this clash would have been skipper Kruise Leeming but a foot injury sees him sit this one out. So who will replace him? Rohan Smith has three options in Jarrod O’Connor, Corey Johnson and of course out of favour Brad Dwyer who hasn’t played the last two games. Based on the last time Leeming was absent, O’Connor will get the nod despite being a 13 by trade and Brad Dwyer will start on the bench. The rest of the side will remain the same after that thumping win over Hull FC that is of course if there’s no other injuries but rumour has it Blake Austin may be a doubt which could mean either Corey Johnson or 17-year-old Jack Sinfield could play; a possibility hinted at by the fact Johnson was not included for Bradford last night.

16 Richie Myler
2 David Fusitu’a
33 Zak Hardaker
4 Liam Sutcliffe
5 Ash Handley
6 Blake Austin
7 Aidan Sezer
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
24 Jarrod O’Connor
10 Matt Prior
11 James Bentley
12 Rhyse Martin
25 James Donaldson
Substitutes
14 Brad Dwyer
17 Cameron Smith
21 Morgan Gannon
22 Sam Walters

Castleford Tigers
The big question for Castleford is: who will start in the halves alongside Danny Richardson? Jake Trueman has played his last game for Castleford, Gareth O’Brien is still injured and Paul McShane is suspended. This probably means the role will fall to Joe Westerman with George Lawler coming into the side at 13 perhaps his best position. Niall Evalds will start at fullback and Alex Sutcliffe could make a return to the side to give more size to the bench. He and Alex Mellor could feature against their former club. Interestingly, a future Leeds player in Derrell Olpherts could also feature if reports of a move to Leeds are indeed true. The side will be completed by Liam Watts’ whose return from suspension is timely as he replaces the newly suspended Nathan Massey.

1 Niall Evalds
5 Bureta Faraimo
4 Jake Mamo
17 Mahe Fonua
2 Derrell Olpherts
7 Danny Richardson
13 Joe Westerman
8 Liam Watts
12 Adam Milner
15George Griffin
11 Kenny Edwards
37 Alex Mellor
10 George Lawler
Substitutes
28 Brad Martin
21 Alex Sutcliffe
22 Daniel Smith
25 Suaia Matagi