Castleford Tigers travelled to face winless Huddersfield Giants in a bottom of the table Super League clash and the verdict is now in.
Huddersfield saw their winless streak continue as Castleford got a confidence-boosting 30-12 win with their tall outside backs terrorising the Giants.
Rowan Milnes’ kicking game was key to exploiting the height advantage that Castleford had out wide but Luke Robinson will have watched on and be wondering when, or even if, a Huddersfield win is coming.
There were a number of changes for both sides with Huddersfield welcoming back NRL signing Zac Woolford, although he started on the bench. Adam Swift and Kieran Rush also returned, as did captain Leroy Cudjoe.
As for Castleford, Innes Senior returned from suspension and slotted straight in for Jason Qareqare who will be out for the next four months, but the major boost was Tom Amone making his debut after signing for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Here’s our verdict on the game.
Castleford Tigers boost confidence with win over hopless Huddersfield Giants
A dominant Tigers display 👊#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/Xx8ccHwuTz
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 26, 2025
It didn’t take long for the scoring to start as Castleford took the lead after three minutes when Sam Wood claimed a Rowan Milnes kick, offloading to the returning Innes Senior who grounded easily in the corner.
That lead didn’t last long though as just when Castleford were threatening to score again, Adam Swift broke free and unleashed full-back Jacob Gagai who went 70 metres to make it 6-4 to the hosts inside eight minutes.
Castleford reclaimed the lead through Josh Simm after 20 minutes as they built pressure and they soon added another through a kick once again, this time from the boot of Daejarn Asi. His high bomb was claimed by Alex Mellor with the forward managing to collect and then burrow over to score and make it 16-6.
Sam Wood thought he’d scored a second but was ruled to be tackled before grounding and things got worse for Castleford as Wood both appeared to pick up a knock before Joe Westerman was sent to the sin bin.
Huddersfield did threaten but so did Cas as they continued to make metres and stress the Giants which forced a penalty and Rowan Milnes gladly took the two to make it 18-6 by half-time.
Innes Senior scored his second of the day shortly after the restart before Rowan Milnes scored under the sticks on the hour mark to make it 30-6 and put the game out of Huddersfield’s sight. Huddersfield did bring one back when Oliver Wilson crashed over but that was merely a consolation as they lost 30-12 in a ninth straight loss to start the Super League season.
Good day for
Danny McGuire’s side desperately needed a win after somehow losing to rivals Wakefield last week. They’ll take Trinity on again at Magic Weekend and the confidence boost of this win will be massive for them.
Bad day for
Ken Davy must be watching Huddersfield this year and wondering why he puts in the money that he does. Injuries have been incredibly rough but this was a prime opportunity to break their season duck. With a tough fixture run, you question if they break their own Super League record of consecutive losses.
Star man
Rowan Milnes made his 100th Super League appearance and it was a special one with the Castleford playmaker involved in everything. His kicking game was exceptional and he also managed to get a try for himself.
Teams Huddersfield Giantx XIII: Jacob Gagai; Adam Swift, Jake Bibby, Sam Halsall, Connor Carr; Kieran Rush, George Flanagan; Oliver Wilson, Ashton Golding, Tom Burgess; Sam Hewitt, Joe Greenwood, Leroy Cudjoe
Interchanges: Zac Woolford, Matty English, Jack Bibby, Taane Milne
Castleford Tigers XIII: Tex Hoy; Josh Simm, Zac Cini, Sam Wood, Innes Senior; Daejarn Asi, Rowan Milnes; Tom Amone, Judah Rimbu, Jordan Dezaria; Jeremiah Simbiken, Alex Mellor, George Lawler
Interchanges: Joe Westerman, Dan Okoro, Brad Singleton, Hugo Salabio
