Warrington Wolves v Castleford Tigers: Kick-off time, TV channel and predicted line-ups

Tonight in one of the league’s most anticipated games of the season. Daryl Powell’s new club Warrington take on the team he revolutionised before leaving them behind last year the Castleford Tigers.

The two battle at 8pm tonight and the game can be watched live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Mix from 7:30pm.

But, as both sides pursue victory, how will they line up? The Wolves come into the game after an unconvincing win over Leeds who spent much of the game down a man. Meanwhile, the Lee Radford era at Castleford started with a shock defeat to Salford. Following those sullied showings from both sides, what changes – forced and unforced – will both coaches make?

Warrington Wolves
Warrington lost two key players in the win at Headingley. Oliver Holmes picked up a ban for a high tackle meaning he won’t feature against his former side. Speaking of former Castleford stars, Daryl Clarke is the other player set to be absent after a head knock against Leeds. However, they do have two returning stars in the shape of Toby King and Jack Hughes. One major question is whether the match winner against Leeds, Connor Wrench, will be dropped following King’s return.

It would be harsh on Wrench if he was dropped and King’s prior experience in the pack could see him included on the bench as a way of easing him back into action. The same could be said of Jack Hughes. The Wolves skipper has seemingly been moved to the loose-forward role in 2022 and could come on down the middle. As for hooker, Danny Walker will no doubt step up whilst I can see Jason Clarke starting in the backrow.

1 Stefan Ratchford
2 Josh Charnley
3 Peter Mata’utia
23 Connor Wrench
5 Matty Ashton
6 Gareth Widdop
7 George Williams
15 Joe Bullock
16 Danny Walker
10 Mike Cooper
11 Ben Currie
14 Jason Clarke
17 Matt Davis
Substitutes
4 Toby King
8 Joe Philbin
13 Jack Hughes
19 Rob Mulhern

Castleford Tigers
Turning to the Tigers, they just lost one of the 17 who were defeated 26-16 to Salford last week with halfback Danny Richardson absent through a neck injury. Youngsters Cain Robb and Sam Hall have been included in the Tigers 21-man squad but it would be a surprise to see them feature.

So, asides from Gareth O’Brien, or potentially Jordan Turner who started the Salford defeat on the bench, replacing Danny Richardson at seven, any other changes would simply be tactical from Lee Radford. Following a shock defeat last week, there’s every chance he could make some changes to the way his side is set up.

1 Niall Evalds
2 Derrell Olpherts
4 Jake Mamo
17 Mahe Fonua
5 Bureta Faraimo
6 Jake Trueman
31 Gareth O’Brien
15 George Griffin
9 Paul McShane
22 Daniel Smith
11 Kenny Edwards
21 Alex Sutcliffe
13 Joe Westerman
Substitutes
3 Jordan Turner
8 Liam Watts
10 George Lawler
25 Suaia Matagi