Head coach Craig Lingard has warned his Castleford Tigers players that the fantastic hard fought win at St Helens will mean little unless they back it up this Friday on their trip to London Broncos.
Lingard was delighted for the players that they were able to celebrate a rare win at St Helens with their efforts rewarded after a couple of close defeats to Wigan and Hull KR.
But he will not accept any slackening when the Tigers now face a team at the other end of the table in London Broncos, who just have one win to their name since promotion to Super League this year.
“There’s no point in coming to St Helens and winning then going to London and getting beat,” said Lingard.
Castleford Tigers players celebrate after achieving a rare victory at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium. Picture: John Victor
Castleford Tigers players celebrate after achieving a rare victory at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium. Picture: John Victor
“We’ve got to make sure that the intensity we’ve trained at since the break is maintained and even increased because if we get beat by London then this game means nothing
“We’ve got to make sure that the way we performed, the way we defended, the attitude we’ve had, that desperation stays there.
“Hopefully we can pick up a few wins between now and the end of the season and start looking up instead of down.”
Lingard praised the way his team have dug in over the last three games against top quality opposition.
He added: “One of the things we’ve got good at recently is dealing with stuff that goes against us and building that resilience.
“We showed it in the last two minutes when it was six again, six again on our own goalline and we kept coming up with an answer.
“I’m really pleased with the win obviously. It’s good to get a win at Saints, which doesn’t happen very often.
“We were outstanding defensively. We were pretty ordinary and scratchy with ball in hand, but since the break around the Challenge Cup weekend we said we needed to concentrate on the defensive element of the game.
“There’s been a real focus on the basics of defence and said that if you are in a close game you’ve got a chance of winning it.
“The vast majority of defence is about attitude. It’s not pretty and one of our buzz words is ‘desperate’ – being desperate to save tries.
“We’ve drilled them and drilled them defensively over the last three or four weeks to make sure the basics are right. It’s been getting there and it’s been working for the majority of time over the last three games.”
The Saints victory was made all the more impressive after Cas lost four more players to injury in the run up to the game, including new England international Sam Wood, who is expected to be out for the season with a shoulder injury picked up playing for his country in France.
Papua New Guinea internationals Sylvester Namo and Nixon Putt also sat out the game through injury along with another centre in Josh Hodson, leaving the Tigers with just 21 fit players to travel.