Castleford Tigers take a two-game winning run into Sunday’s visit of Catalans Dragons and coach Craig Lingard insists they are “looking up rather than down” the table.
Castleford are now seven points clear of second-bottom Hull FC, with London Broncos a further two behind. Of more interest now are Huddersfield Giants and Leigh Centurions who began Betfred Super League round 18 in ninth and eighth spot, one and two points ahead of Lingard’s men.
The top-six is realistically out of reach, but the coach insisted Tigers’ aim for the rest of the campaign is to “finish as high as we can”. He said: “That sounds simplistic, but at the start of the season we had reduced the budget considerably and were massively down on quality players in terms of experience.
Sylvester Namo will replace Matty English on Castleford Tigers’ bench for the visit of Catalans Dragons on Sunday. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Sylvester Namo will replace Matty English on Castleford Tigers’ bench for the visit of Catalans Dragons on Sunday. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
“We set off saying if we could get anywhere near or have a better season than last year, that would be a success for us. I think the ultimate aim at the beginning of the season would have been to finish top of the bottom four. That’s not us being defeatist or disrespectful, it’s just being honest about where we were. There’s the potential for us to do that now, or even a bit better.
“We are looking at winning as many games as we can between now and the start of the season and claw in a few teams above us. There’s a bit of daylight between us and London and Hull so now we are looking up rather than down. We’ve got Leigh to play twice and Huddersfield so we’ve got an opportunity to pick up some points, but we’ve got to maintain the performances we’ve had over the last four weeks.”
Sylvester Namo has returned to Tigers’ squad following injury and is set to replace loan man Matty English – who has been recalled by Huddersfield Giants – in the only change to the 17 which beat London last week.
Lingard said he doesn’t expect any signings before this season’s transfer deadline on August 2, but confirmed talks have taken place with Parramatta Eels centre Zac Cini over a deal for next year.
Castleford Tigers: from Hooley, I Senior, Miller, Watts, Lawler, El-Zakhem, Mellor, Westerman, Horne, Griffin, Milnes, S Hall, Mustapha, Namo, Qareqare, Robb, Kibula, Hill, Johnson, Hoy, C Hall.
Catalans Dragons: from Mourgue, Davies, Romano, Laguerre, Fages, McIlorum, Bousquet, Sims, Seguier, Garcia, Da Costa, Navarrete, Rouge, Satae, Ikuvalu, Dezaria, Johnstone, Castano, Abdull, Aispuro-Bichet, Ben Abdeslem.
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