Castleford Tigers have beaten local rivals Leeds Rhinos 36-34 in what is undoubtedly the game of the season so far.
The Tigers looked down and out after being 16-0 down early on, but they showed incredible resilience to fight their way back into the contest, something that they haven’t shown they could do at times this season.
The result brings Leeds’ run of seven wins crashing down, and they will be hoping that the injury suffered by hooker Danny Levi isn’t too serious, after he was stretchered off the field in the first half.
Castleford crossed through Jason Qareqare x2, Mikaele Ravalawa, Ashton Golding, Daejarn Asi and Jack Ashworth, whilst Leeds had James McDonnell and Brodie Croft score doubled, whilst Alfie Edgell and Tom Holroyd added their names to the scoresheet as well.
Rhinos remain top of the league, but the gap is now cut to just two points, with Wakefield and Wigan closely behind in second and third.
Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos talking points
Tigers win game of the season as Leeds stunned:
For the first time in three visits, Leeds have travelled to Wheldon Road and lost, after a hugely spirited display from Castleford saw them claim their biggest win of the season so far.
The home side emerged victorious in what is undoubtedly the game of the season so far, with the contest having everything from controversial calls, excellent tries and some feisty defence.
Whilst it wasn’t the highest-scoring of the year, in terms of competitiveness and not knowing who would take the win, this game certainly takes top spot for match of the year
Leeds star stretchered off:
Following the win over Catalans last week, hooker Jarrod O’Connor showed symptoms of a concussion, so was ruled out of this game due to HIA protocols. That left Leeds to use Danny Levi as their sole number nine for this game.
However, Levi’s game would come to an abrupt end, with the former Canberra and Huddersfield man needing to be stretchered off towards the end of the first half.
There was a stoppage of around 10 minutes before the Leeds and Castleford medical staff carried him off the field to be taken to hospital.
The Rhinos opted to use Tom Nicholson-Watton at hooker, as the prop played there for the first time in his career.
Leeds will also need to replace Chris Hankinson next week against Bradford, after he failed a HIA in the second half.
Castleford respond after poor opening quarter:
After finding themselves 16-0 down with as many minutes played, Tigers teams of previous seasons, and this year as well, would have crawled into a hole and allowed themselves to be beaten.
However, this week there was none of that, and Castleford clawed their way back into the game, showing incredible effort to do so.
Two late tries after Levi’s incident saw the home side go into the break four points down rather than 16, before they dominated the majority of the second half after Leeds scored two early tries. That got them within touching distance, before a second try for Jason Qareqare gave Tigers the lead with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Magic McDonnell:
In the opening quarter of the game, the best player on the pitch by far was Leeds back rower McDonnell, who was a huge reason why Leeds got on the front foot early on.
An offload in his own half allowed the Rhinos to spread the ball and gain field position, before he then finished the set off with a try, breaking through the line 25m out and bumping off defenders.
He then produced an excellent charge down, which in turn allowed Brodie Croft to score a breakaway try and increase the lead to 16-0.
He started the second half in a similar vein, scoring his second of the afternoon thanks to an incredible effort to fend off the Tigers defence close to the line.
It was the soon-t0-be Perth Bears man’s 100th Super League appearance this afternoon, and he certainly celebrated the milestone in style.
Halves decision pays off:
After being dropped by boss Ryan Carr last week, the decision to bring him back into the side for this one proved to be fruitful.
It meant that Jenson Windley dropped out of the side, and whilst Weaver didn’t have his best game, particularly in defence, but his accuracy from the tee is what won Castleford this game.
Weaver kicked six goals from seven, with his last one being the toughest and most important, but that didn’t stop him from coolly converting from the touchline.
