Saints vs Tigers: Match Preview

Castleford Tigers will be aiming to get back to winning ways when they head over the Pennines on Sunday to face St Helens.

Kick-off is scheduled for 1pm and the game will mark the second occasion this season that the Fords will appear live on Channel 4 with coverage getting underway at 12:30pm, so if you’re not making the journey across, make sure to tune in!

Cas’ last visit to Merseyside was one that won’t easily be forgotten as the Tigers claimed their first win away at St Helens for over 30 years. Tries from Greg Eden and Oliver Holmes saw the Fords hold a narrow lead as Saints attacked with the clock ticking closer to full-time and it was Eden who stuck out a hand to intercept and sprint the length of the field for his brace and to seal a historical victory.

Last time the pair met was earlier in the 2022 campaign when a youthful St Helens squad headed to The Jungle. The young Saints battled hard, but the Tigers’ experience shone through with scores from Jason Qaraqare, Jake Trueman, Joe Westerman, Mahe Fonua, and a couple for Derrell Olpherts saw the hosts take a comfortable 30-10 win.

The Fords will be travelling west on the M62 on Sunday with the hope of sealing their third victory in a row over the reigning champions which will solidify their place further in the playoff picture.

After both missing out on last week’s derby due to concussion protocols, Gareth O’Brien and Alex Mellor will be available for selection this coming Sunday. Cheyse Blair is included in the 21-man pack and Sosaia Feki makes a welcome return to the Cas squad for the first time in 2022.

Radford will be without Jake Mamo as he is forced to sit out after picking up a head knock in the Tigers’ previous outing along with Daniel Smith, George Lawler, and Kieran Hudson who also step out of the line-up.

Kristian Woolf’s pack are coming off a surprising defeat to Salford Red Devils, with Saints conceding an eye-opening 44 points at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The loss at Salford was compounded by a season-ending injury to Regan Grace and Agnatius Paasi also picked up a head knock which will rule the forward out of the Castleford clash. Will Hopoate and Mark Percival are also side-lined but Saints will be overjoyed to see the return of Tommy Makinson to the squad for this weekend.

Despite last weekend’s defeat and picking up injuries to key men, Saints still sit top of Super League by four points and like Cas, will be giving their all to return to winning ways this time around.

Assistant Coach Andy Last was on press duties this week and he spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s contest.

“I think it’s the biggest challenge in Super League playing them at their place, especially after the performance they had at Salford because we expect them to react like the champion team that they are. We need to make sure we improve because for whatever reason we weren’t at it last time out. We didn’t deal with the pressure, and we need to be able to deal with pressure because Saints are the masters of building pressure. We had a really open and honest review and spoke at length about areas we need to improve on.”  

Watch Last’s full press conference on Tigers TV

Ahead of potentially reaching the impressive milestone of 250 career games, Gareth O’Brien addressed the media and outlined that it will be a proud moment if he plays at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday.

“We will be expecting a response from them, but we will be trying to respond as well. It’s going to be two teams eager to get the two points. It’s a tough place to go but we managed to get the result their last year so we know we can beat them on their patch but it’s a case of sticking to our game plan and defending well. Getting to my 250th career appearance is a really nice milestone to reach and to make a living out of the sport I have loved since I was five years old, I consider myself very lucky.”

GOB’s pre-match press conference can be viewed on Tigers TV

St Helens: 1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison, 28. Lewis Baxter, 29. Dan Hill, 31. Taylor Pemberton

Castleford Tigers: 2. Derrell Olpherts, 5. Bureta Faraimo, 7. Danny Richardson, 8. Liam Watts, 9. Paul McShane, 11. Kenny Edwards, 12. Adam Milner, 13. Joe Westerman, 15. George Griffin, 17. Mahe Fonua, 21. Alex Sutcliffe, 23. Greg Eden, 24. Cheyse Blair, 25. Suaia Matagi, 28. Brad Martin, 29. Sam Hall, 30. Sosaia Feki, 31. Gareth O'Brien, 32. Cain Robb, 33. Jason Qareqare, 37. Alex Mellor

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