Castleford 2 Wakefield 38

The write-up of the match can be found in the section by clicking on

Okay, my view!!!

I didn't go - I was down near Cambridge yesterday - Just as well really judging from the match report!!! - It appears that we sent out a second or 3rd rate side to play against a decent Wildcats team. This isn't trying to put the Cas players down, it's just that most of the players are not capable of competing with a near full strength Superleague side - not yet anyway.

My main gripe is one that I had said before Christmas to my Trinity supporting boss - Why bother???

We always put out a well below full strength team for these games and I'm sure that the people who showed up yesterday will have been disappointed. 

My view on friendly's are that they should be used to get the 1st teamers and fringe players up to match fitness. Yesterdays match therefore looks just like a money making exercise to me!!!

I presume that we will field a similar team next week against Leeds - Another match that I would rather miss watching!!!

Hopefully, by the time the Blue Sox game arrives, we will be putting out a familiar team to all of us :-)

See you later - I've been at work since 5am and I've just got home  (2pm) - At least I'm off now until next Tuesday - I'm going to investigate the new bottle of Malt Whisky that I got for Christmas!!! (Hic!!!)  :-)

The Tigers have made a decision to redevelop The Jungle rather than move to a new stadium (mainly due to a lack of funding from the council from what I can gather)

We've signed a new player - 18 year old Jon Goddard (who has been playing for the academy and the under 21's - Lets hope he's better than our last 2 players with his first name and surname!!! (Jon Wray and Richard Goddard!!!)

Just a couple of bits and pieces - Mark Lennon is now in England and is training with the team.

I''ve put the new squad numbers on the player info page for this season. I think the most interesting thing is that Jason Flowers in number 14 - Drop in form or fall out with Raper ???

I've also updated the Staff page (thanks to the official website!!!) :-))

and that's about it.

Merry Christmas to everyone :-)

Yes, an update of the news page - Nothing really new or up to date, but at least it's a start!!!

Just to say that I've updated a few of the pages shown above with new/changed fixtures, a new chant (someone actually sent me one in (Nick Oak) - I'm sure others can do the same, PLEASE!!!) and a bit of info (from the official site) on our new signing. David Smith. from Siddall.

Okay Guys and Gals, this is it - The new look site :-)

I've thoroughly tested it and I think it looks good - but then I would, wouldn't I!!! :-)

It should appear correctly at both 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions - please let me know if it doesn't

So, what's new???

Not an awful lot really although with the amount of work that's gone into the site you would think that there'd be all sorts of new stuff.

First off, you can now see fancy graphics across the site (well, they're fancy by my standards co I don't know an awful lot about graphics software so designing the logos etc. took a bit of time :-)

I have grouped a lot of the previous individual options into main areas i.e. the messageboard, polls, chat room can be found within the interactive link rather than scattered about all over the place - Once you know where everything is, it should make things easier - That's why I've also included a site map for you to use :-)

Also, you'll notice that you can do a site search straight from the left hand navigation bar - just type in a word/s and the search will find pages on the site wherever those words are mentioned.

New backgrounds for the site as well!!! They are slightly lighter than last season so they should be a little easier on the eye.

On the Road Trip directions page, there are now some amateurs teams listed. This list will grow as people let me know about their team :-)

The Chants page will also grow throughout the season as people submit what they sing/hear around the ground.

There is still a fair bit of work to be done on the site - I have created a couple of new wallpapers (if you are using a 800x600 screen resolution, please remember to set the STRETCH option from the backgrounds tab within the control panel, display option) but I will be making more when I get some up to date photos etc.

Stuff like the player info will continue to be updated as will the staff page. Hopefully, you will all continue to send in your profiles to the Who Are Yer??? section too as this was very popular last season.

The competition page WILL become active again shortly as I've still got some monkeys and mouse mats to give away :-) and I promise to update the poll more frequently!!! (Although I'm not making it one of my new years resolutions as I hopeless at remembering to change the questions!!!)

Also, I will be creating a new screensaver or 2 and trying to get ALL of the music played at the games - If anyone has WIM AWAY (THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT), HEY MICKY, LAND DOWN UNDER or IT'S A KIND OF MAGIC, please e-mail me as I need these to complete the songs (until the club plays some new stuff this season!!!)

And I think that's about it - Once again as happens every year at this time, I start out redoing the site thinking it'll take a couple of hours and it takes about 6 weeks of hard work - I hope you think it was worth it :-)

As usual, please let me know what you think of the site (good or bad) by sending me an e-mail. It's nice to get feedback on the site even if you think that's it's C**p!!!!!

 Finally, I will update the site on a more regular basis once the season starts but there'll always be at least one update a week if not more :-)

Cheers for now - Mark :-)

Fixtures for the new season have just been released - Cas play Wigan, St Helens, Bradford and Leeds 3 times each and Warrington 4 times - It should be quite a difficult season ahead :-)

I've got a few details about Mark Lennon straight from the horses mouth (so to speak) :-)

I e-mailed Mark to ask him about his career so far and here is what he had to say :

I started playing rugby league for my junior club Como-Jannali in the Cronulla Sutherland competition.

I played Jersey Flegg under 19s in 1998 for Cronulla Sharks at age 17 .

I was in the under 19 squad the following year then in 2000 I played Jersey Flegg under 20s for St George Illawarra .

In 2000 I played in the unfamiliar positions of fullback and wing as I have always been a Halfback all through the junior grades.

I quite enjoyed playing fullback but I still see myself more as a halfback. I'm a right footed kicker and goal kicker and I'm looking forward to a very exciting period of my life moving a way from home over to England to make a name for myself in the European Superleague with the Castleford Tigers.

regards

Mark Lennon.

Another signing for Cas, this time from the Bradford Bulls - Gareth Handford joins the Tigers on loan with a view to making the signing permanent depending on his progress.

Handford is a local lad who grew up in Airedale and should be a good addition to the squad.

Cas have announced two new signings for next season.  As expected, former Great Britain centre Jon Roper is joining the Tigers, after being released by Warrington at the end of last season.  The other new player is totally unexpected. He is Mark Lennon, who is a winger from the St George-Illawarra club. The 20 year-old has never played in first-grade and spent most of last season with the Dragons' Jersey Flegg (Academy) team. He is exempt from the requirements necessary for a work-permit, as he holds a British passport and will join the Tigers on a six months contract, during which time he hopes that he can earn a longer one.

Also, Waine Pryce has extended his contract with the club for another 2 years - Lets hope that he continues to improve :-)

Still no confirmation on our signing of Jon Roper

Stuart Main of Tigertown Web e-mailed me today to say that he has re-launched the site and it can now be accessed at either

http://www.thecastlefordtigers.co.uk or http://www.castigers.net

Both URLS take you to the same site.

Why not have a look :-)

Cas have released Paul Smith who has signed for the York Wasps - Don't know why we've let him go as he seemed a more than capable backup player.

Also, I've heard that we've signed Jon Roper, the ex Warrington star although this isn't yet confirmed.

Survey Results

Well, I've just been collating the survey results and around 110 of you send in your feedback - Brilliant - thanks very much :-)

Please read the whole lot -yes, you may get bored but then again, you may be able to help me out - there are various requests for help throughout the results!!! :-)))

So, what were the findings then???

From this info you can see that the Music and postcards are least popular and the Stats, Screensavers and Polls are the favourites.

51 of you knew what I was talking about with java with 56 not having a clue - and 50 of those thought that it was a good idea. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a Good FREE java menu system that I liked so I opted to go with clickable buttons instead :-)

98 of you thought that the colours were okay but of those 10 that didn't, they thought that the colours were very bad indeed!!!

The site loads quickly for 89 of you and only 9 people said this wasn't the case.

34 of you use IE5 and 28 use Netscape - 19 people use other/older browsers.

25 of you visit the site daily with 35 visiting every couple of days and 20 visiting once a week and 6 visiting twice a week. 13 visit monthly with 6 visiting less frequently.

Around 10 of you wanted a chat room so I will be adding one to the site again :-)

As you may have already seen, I am now adding amateur directions to the directions page so if you know any directions of which street a club plays on, please let me know so I can do the directions for them.

More screensavers were requested and I will be adding some more to the site.

Some of you wanted a humour page - I'll give this one a miss and let The Aye take care of it :-)

A pen pals section was also asked for but as the Official site does this, I'll leave it at that. The same goes for ordering Cas merchandise - The Official site does a much better job of this than I could ever hope to do.

Player interviews - To be honest, I don't have the time to do any BUT, if anyone wants to do any and send them in, I will certainly put them on the site.

Cheerleaders - To any of the cheerleaders - If you want to have your own section on the site, please let me know and I will sort something out :-)

The same goes for the alliance/academy teams - I don't have any easy access to this info but if someone wants to send it to me, I'll be happy to update it :-)

Finally, there are a few others things that will be a "work in progress" but may not appear for a while - I have to collect the info first!!! Stuff like all time top try scorers and appearances, legendary players and full match score history are all areas which I will be looking at :-)

Only 2 people suggested removing things from the site and one of those was the link to the Rhinos site :-)  Nice One!!!

What would make it better for you??? Well there were one of 2 minor niggles about the colours and the site not always working - I am slightly changing the colours but I think that the site not working is probably your server rather than this sites one???

I will also update the poll more often :-)

Unfortunately, I can't add a web cam or video clips - I don't have the expertise or the copywrite!!! The club does some pretty good video clips these days anyway :-)

Hopefully I will satisfy some of you with better graphics for next season.

I do try and give proper news and not as was suggested about the official site, "ridiculous propaganda". I will continue to do so.

I will try and continue to do a text version of match commentary whenever possible (i.e. when I'm watching a game of TV rather than being at the match!!!)

Fantasy Rugby - I tried this last year and my spreadsheet crashed - I know that someone was running one on the messageboard last season - I can't remember who!!! - If you want to do it next season on a separate PREDICTIONS messageboard, please let me know and I will set it up :-) Also, there is a really good predictions league on the RL newsgroup - You don't need  newsgroup access to enter though - Just e-mail gordonmurray@cableinet.co.uk and he will let you know how to enter by e-mail or the Web for next season :-)

The message board, photos and the Who Are Yer??? page were the most popular alongside the news page and My Views!!!! :-)))

There were many OTHER comments - most praising the site but also a few with constructive critism which I have taken on board and will aim to do better :-)

Thanks to everyone for not only reading this far!!!! but for also filling in the damn thing :-)

Hopefully, the new and improved site will launch before Christmas. You don't need to do anything - It'll be right here where it's always been :-)

I may have to take the site down for a couple of days when I update it but I'm not sure if I'll need to yet.

In the meantime (and if I don't get everything ready before then!!!, I will update this site as I've always done until the new one is ready :-)

Cheers for now - Mark :-)

I'm still in the process of setting up the new website - It's coming along nicely now I've got a lot of the graphics done and made sure that all the links are there etc. It's amazing that every year the task gets so much harder. 

Anyone want to send me the words to some of the chants??? I've had no response so far!!!

Also, I will be getting a chat room up and running when I launch the new look site - A few people have requested it from the questionnaire so I am obliging :-) (It's never been used when it's been there before though!!!)

I also have a few directions to amateur clubs but would like the list to grow - If you know the street where a particular club plays (or a street name nearby), please let me know so I can add it to the list.

As for the WHO ARE YER??? page - Please keep sending in your profiles - JT, I haven't forgotten to do yours, I'll update it on the new site :-)

See you later - Mark

P.S. Andy, how's the beer in Belfast??? :-))

Yep, yet another update!!! Darren Rogers has been called into the England team - He didn't play in Saturday's loss to the Aussies but he may play midweek against Russia

Is it just me or is the RL World Cup making the game of RL look crap??? Yes, I'm all for nations developing and becoming better but apart from us, The Aussies and New Zealand (maybe not even us!!!) the rest of the teams are 2nd and 3rd rate. Most of them do have a few stars but the standard of rugby I've seen so far hasn't been very good.

Surely a 3 nation world cup would have been better - People watching on BBC and SKY for the first time are going to think that RL is played by players who can't even catch the ball never mind move up in a line together!!!

Anyway, I'm off my soapbox now. So far Michael Eager and Adrian Vowles have both had decent games for Ireland and Scotland. This though gets me back on my soapbox!!!

How can they play for these countries!!! Yes, I know, Their grannies or some other long lost distant relative once visited 300 years ago for a holiday!!! This further still makes a mockery of the game when the countries have to rely on talent that (in my opinion) should only be allowed to play for the country in which they were born.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that the players don't feel proud to play for the country, I'm sure that they do and that they give their all, just that if they are totally honest, there is no way for example that Vowlesy is Scottish!!!

I am definitely off my soapbox now :-)

There is a bonfire at The Jungle on 5th November. Tickets are £2 or £3 depending on if you preorder them or just turn up on the night

Wow - I've actually put some news on the news page!!! Yep, sorry Guys (and Gals!!!) but I've been busy doing nothing for the last couple of weeks and news is very slow at the moment anyway.

What I have been doing is looking at all the completed questionnaires and taking on board what has been said.

It doesn't look like anything major will be changing but there will be a general tidy up of the site and a few more flashy buttons etc. when I get them completed.

One new area will be the CHANTS page - Please send me in the words of all chants sung at the matches, Rude or not :-)

Cheers for now - Mark

CLICK FOR END OF SEASON SURVEY - PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES TO COMPLETE IT - THANKS - MARK :-)

On Sunday 22nd of October, Cas fan and Aye of the Tigers big nob Neil Harvey (aka Stone Cold) will be lining up with over 47000 others in Newcastle to run the 13miles 192¼ yards of the 'BUPA Great North Run'. He will be running on behalf of children's charity "Childline".

This is Neil's first ever official half marathon, so we are trying to make sure he gets as many sponsors as possible. So please give both Neil and Childline your support and encouragement by making a sponsorship pledge below. We'll be in touch with all of you once he's finished the run (if he does!) - Thanks!

pledge@ayeofthetigers.fsnet.co.uk

For further info you can visit the AYE WEBSITE or email Stu Lake

Go on, support him - I know that I'm knackered if I run 2 miles on a lunchtime (not often, but I do, do it sometimes - It's a sight to behold too!!!)

At least I do it round Pinderfields Hospital though, just in case :-)

Please keep the info rolling in for the amateur clubs directions - I only need to know the name of the club and the street name that they place near to.

I'm in the process of adding ground directions on this website to all AMATEUR league clubs but I need some help from you please.

I don't have any idea at all of where the amateur clubs play!!!

If you know which road/street any of the grounds are on, please e-mail me.

All help is much appreciated.

The club are saying that the Mitch Healey deal is not yet confirmed. Also, rumour has it that Paul Smith has been released but the club are also denying it at this point in time.

Cas have signed 31 year old Mitch Healey from Cronulla on a 3 year contract - He is a Scrum Half and has only been released by the Sharks due to the wage cap.

As is customary for me now at this time of year, I'll be asking you to fill in a survey on what you want from this website for next season - The official site has filled a lot of voids and also made some of the stuff on here unnecessary - What would you like to see stay or be scrapped??? - Keep an eye out for the survey pretty soon :-) Cheers for now - Mark

Leeds 22 Castleford 14

Well, we got on the bus again but unfortunately were thrown off at the first stop!!!

A decent performance from the lads just wasn't enough and as has been the case for much of the season, we only looked like scoring through kicks against the better teams in the league.

Oh well, there's always next season!!!

Does anyone know anything about Waine Pryce (sp) ??? Who has he been playing with, credentials etc. - I'm not blaming him for the loss BUT, if he had taken the pass with 5 minutes to go, we would have been back in the game - From the angle I saw it (right next to the big screen) it was a simple ball to take - Oh dear :-(

Cas have released/not resigned 3 of their current squad for next season - Logan Campbell, Andy Purcell and surprisingly, Brad Davis will all be leaving after the playoffs.

I'd just like to wish them all good luck wherever they go as I feel they have served the club well.

This is it - The BIG one - Yes, it's playoff time again and what a great start to them yesterday with St Helens beating the Bulls in the last few seconds.

BUT, the serious stuff starts tonight Lets dump the Rhinos out of the playoffs at Headingley for a second successive season and then do the same to Bradford next week!!!

Can we do it tonight then??? I certainly think so and I'm sure there'll be a few thousand other fans at the game with me who believe it too. Ask any Leeds fan though and they'll think that we've no chance, especially with li'll ol' Iestyn back for them.

Mind you, they never have been know for understanding the game and I bet that the referee was against them if they don't come away with a victory!!!

COME ON LADS - SHOW THEM HOW IT'S DONE :-)

Castleford 20 Wakefield 8

Read the MATCH REPORT

Well, we didn't get the 65 point margin that we needed to get a home match next week but Wakefield also played a lot better than anyone could have guessed. Maybe it's true about local players having a lot more pride than the big name signings.

Anyway, Cas were a bit poor - probably because they started off by trying to score the 8 points every 10 minutes that they needed for next week and got off to a pretty good start too.

In the end, as per the other games this season against them, there was an obvious difference in class but we didn't make enough of the obvious advantage.

Mistakes aplenty meant that Cas could never relax and the Wildcats did put up a decent performance.

Next week is now the big one - no more mistakes are allowed and we've a hell of a job to do if we are to win the grand final - Lets hope that we start playing our best rugby of the season and once again make people sit up and take notice :-)

I'm unsure about whether we can still finish in 4th place - I recon that if we win by 61 points tonight then we should go ahead of Leeds on points difference - Is this correct???

Aye of the Tigers issue 6 is now on sale at the Wakey game tonight - BUY IT!!!

Darren Rogers has signed a new 2 year deal to keep him at the club - Good news for The Tigers as he's the best winger that we've had for years.

Huddersfield/Sheffield 14 Castleford 28

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Another good if unspectacular victory for the team. A good win next week against the Wildcats should set us up nicely to stuff the Rhinos in the playoffs :-)

I've finally got hold of a copy of TOM HARK - The song that's played after a try is scored. Thanks go to Phillip Robinson for the file :-)

Click the link above or go to the Music page to hear it.

Richard Gay has signed a new 2 year contract with the Tigers after being linked with a move back to Hull.

Argos have bought out Jungle.com - Latest reports from the club indicate that it will be a good move as Argos are part of GUS International (catalogue firm) who are one of the biggest retailers in the country.

Info so far indicates that Jungle will still be the sponsors of Cas for at least the 2 extra years the signed up for earlier this season.

Craig Wright will join the Batley Bulldogs at the end of the Superleague campaign.

Castleford 30 London 16

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We've finally secured a top 5 place :-) With 2 games still to play, we can still (unlikely) claim 4th spot off of Leeds but it will take a bit of a miracle for that to happen - Anyway, we've proved that we can beat them this season and also that we can beat them in the playoffs at Headingley (last season!!!)

Come on Cas!!!

I've updated the PHOTO GALLERY  for the first time in ages - It now has pictures from the Bulls game 2 and a half weeks ago.

Halifax 36 Castleford 16

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What a difference a week makes!!! After a decent performance against Leeds, we go and do this. Yes, Halifax are a decent enough side but we should be able to at least run them closer than a 20 point margin.

Lets hope that our inconsistency stops in 4 weeks time at Headingley (I'm presuming it'll be the Rhinos v Tigers for 4th v 5th)

It seems that Darren Rogers could be off to Saint Helens at the end of the season - So the rumour mill will have us believe anyway

Aye of the Tigers issue 5 is now on sale - BUY IT!!!

Castleford 20 Leeds 16

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What a good win for the team. Not wholly great but we managed to win and at this time in the season it lets teams like the Rhinos know that we are for real.

The win coupled with Hulls loss at the weekend also makes it pretty much a cert that we've got at least 5th spot for the playoffs - A victory this weekend would confirm this.

Cas need a win to boost their spirits on Friday night - and as usual, any victory over the Rhinos at any point of the season is more than welcome.

Mather and Raper could be back for the big game and Jon Wells will also play having just signed a contract with the club.

Once again, I'll miss a Friday evening game, this time for the test match (at Headingley) - I think I'll be too drunk to make it back to the ground in time even if the cricket finishes at 6:00

Bradford 28 Castleford 8

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Its not been a good week for the Tigers - A poor performance tonight against the Bulls showed just how much work we have to do, to be able to compete week in week out with the teams above us.

Also, Mike Macdonald and Monique announced that they were leaving the club at the end of the season.

Lets hop that the Tigers manage to get some people in who can continue the magnificent work done by them both.

Normal service is now resumed!!!

Yes, I've back after a week of turmoil and upheaval.

The wedding went fine and the move went surprisingly smoothly. The problem (as I've never moved before so didn't realise) is getting everything organised at the new house - It's been non-stop, 16 hours a day for the past week.

Anyway, enough about me - What's been happening to the Tigers???

Well from the sound of it, not a lot - The Warrington loss sounded as though we were truly dreadful and I listened to the game today and although good in the 1st half, we did our usual 2nd half snooze and let the Giants come back at us - We did have enough in reserve though to come through with a much needed victory - I can't see us getting 2 points at Odsal on Friday though - Lets hope I'm wrong :-)

What does everyone think of the new official website??? I'd be interested to know from anyone on their views and how they think that this site can complement it etc. etc.

Huddersfield/Sheffield 16 Castleford 32

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See above

Castleford 18 Warrington 32

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I'm glad I got married and missed the game!!!

Last update for a few days - The WHO ARE YER??? page has 3 more entries.

New amateur rugby site up and running why not have a look at Knottingley Rockware JARLFC run by Steve Norfolk

The new and much improved Official Cas Tigers Website is up and running at www.castigers.com 

Have a look - Personally, I think some of the stuff that they already have on the site is great and it looks as though they plan on keeping it up to date and actually putting some effort into making it work.

For example, on Thursday morning, they will be putting details of signings etc. on the site before any press release.

To all concerned, keep up the great work

St Helens 42 Castleford 18

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Well, 30 minutes have gone at its 6:6 at the moment - Cas are playing better but making too many mistakes when they have the ball. Saints look dangerous but have been contained so far.

Half time and it's 18:8 to the Saints - Cas have been weak too many times in defence and haven't capitalised on their possession.

End of the game and Cas have been comprehensively outplayed in the 2nd half - Once again, we failed to match superior opposition for the full game and in the end, got what we deserved.

If we manage to finish in the top 5, at least we know what we have to do. We have lost so many times this season to teams above us that we should have learned something from all the defeats.

Unfortunately, the only team above us that we've been able to live with is Leeds.

Saying all this, I did think that the lads gave 100% effort last night, I'm certainly not questioning that, but we look as though we are still a couple of players short of being able to challenge for the title.

Castleford 26 Halifax 12

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Another good win for the Tigers in what should have been a hard game but the result was never in doubt.

A meeting has been organised to discuss the proposal for CISA. (Cas Independent Supporters Association) It's a chance to decide on how best to establish and promote the idea and we would like to pool everyone's' ideas in order to make the right decisions.

The meeting will be on Tuesday 18th July at 18:30 in The Garden House pub on Wheldon Rd.

Hope to see most of you there and if anyone has any queries feel free to contact me - Stuart Main stu_main@hotmail.com

The latest COMPETITION has now ended. Click the link or photo to see all the best entries. I have chosen 2 winners who each get a Stan The Chimp AND a Mouse Mat and they are :  Rob Llewellyn of Garforth Graeme Harvey of Stourport-On-Severn, Worcestershire. Congratulations :-) There will be a new competition up and running in August

Okay, you all knew it was coming and now it's only 138 hours away (so one of my sad mates at work tells me anyway!!!)

What  am I on about??? Well, it's my forthcoming wedding on Friday 28th July. 

With this in mind, please don't expect to get the normal service that you've come to rely on for the next 3 or 4 weeks as apart from getting wed, I'm also moving into a new house - Things will be hectic and I will try and update the site if I get chance but please don't mail me to ask why I haven't got things updated :-)))

The new Official Site www.castigers.com WILL be online before this date so you will be able to keep track of what is going on there. Cheers for now - Mark

P.S. I'm not proud so any presents that you want to buy me etc. will be greatly appreciated!!! ;-)))

I am reliably informed that one of our star players is a regular on the messageboard. Unfortunately, you won't be able to identify him as he uses different aliases every time. One of the prominent members of the backroom staff is also a contributor too.

Mind you, judging from the stuff that the mystery player has got you all discussing over the past few weeks, it's not surprising that he doesn't leave his real name!!!!!!!! - All will be revealed eventually (Hopefully not for a good few years, anyway!!!)

You know who you are - Good to see you on the site :-) and keep up the good work on the field :-)

I was fortunate enough last night to get a look at the new official Tigers website which will be online within the next 2 weeks.

Woooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!

The first thing to say is that it will have been well worth the wait. Those of you (including me) who were getting fed up with the coming soon opening screen at www.castigers.com will be mightily impressed with what Jungle.com and Michael MacDonald et al. have done.

Without giving too many secrets away, the main area of the site that I like is the ability to contact players/management at the club by e-mail.

Here are some more spoilers on what you can expect :

• There is all the usual stuff you would expect, news/fixtures/match reports etc.

• You can buy ALL the Tigers merchandise online!!!

• A fans forum where there will be a messageboard (moderated!!!) plus polls etc. The man of the match voting page is hilarious!!!!!!

• A Junior Tigers section with loads of stuff for the kids to do

• Video Files

The above is just a small selection of what will be on the site and I can't stress enough how good the site is looking already - even though it is not yet fully functional.

The graphics and design obviously come from the staff at Jungle.com and the whole thing is quick loading and should be a great success.

I'd even go as far as saying that it is the best Rugby League site on the net already (including the Australian sites)

So, what is the address that you can visit this site at??????? I'm not telling!!!! Just keep checking the www.castigers.com URL and you will be able to view it for yourself in a couple of weeks time. Sorry for being such a tease :-)

"What does this mean for your site then???" I can hear you all asking - Well, it should make it easier for me as I won't need to update the site as frequently (I will if I get the time though). Also, this site will still be a FAN site first and foremost. For example, you will still be able to say exactly what you want on the messageboard whereas you won't be able to on the official one.

Also, as I see how the official site develops, I will be able to concentrate more on creating areas that the official site doesn't have so as always, your contributions will be greatly received.

Whatever happens, the club has once again got it right with it's off the field activities - It may have been a long time coming (a decent official site) but the wait will soon be over :-)

I got my hands on a copy of the book by Andy Howard and David Smart last night and  am very impressed and even excited at the prospect of reading it - It looks fantastic.
 

The book is now on sale in the club shop priced £9.99 - Buy it now, it's a must read - After this week, it will be on sale from all good bookshops.

IT IS DEFINITELY A MUST BUY FOR ALL FANS OF THE CLUB

Pics from the Wildcat game are now online. Please click the pic below see them. 

Dean Sampson has got a 4 match ban for his KO of Poaching - I'll leave it up to you to decide about the punishment - Personally, although I DO agree with what he did, I'm surprised that the ban isn't larger - You can't do that and not expect to be punished - Bet it felt good though :-)

Castleford 16 Wakefield 12

Read the MATCH REPORT

 Well, it was definitely the worst hit I've seen for a few years - I saw the Poaching hit but missed Sampson's!!! It was so bad that I actually booed off an injured player for the first time ever - and I feel it was well justified too.

Poaching not only jumped into Davis after he had kicked the ball away, he lead with his elbow to the jaw - What a disgrace - Hopefully, he will be banned for a good few games, when he recovers from Sammy's revenge.

As for the game itself, I felt that we were always in control (except for the last 15 minutes when Sampson was missing) but once again failed to put the opposition to sleep.

I'm not going to give a summary of the match her - read the report on the link above - but I will report on a certain Mr. Robert Connolly - He had an absolute stinker. Not only did he not keep control of the game (for both sides - ignoring laying on in the tackle, offsides etc.) but he bottled decisions which were obvious to every single person in the ground. I'll tell you had bad he was - I found myself thinking that Karl Kirkpatrick would have been a better replacement :-)))

Anyway, when it's all said and done, there are another 2 points in the bag and it keeps us in 4th place.

It'll be interesting to see just how many games Deano gets banned for this time!!!

Oh yeah, just on another subject, I got my copy of "the Aye" tonight and it really is the best one yet. I found myself chuckling before the game and at half time whilst reading it - Well done guys :-)

***BLATANT PLUG*** - Aye of the Tigers issue four is out for Saturdays match against Wakey and will be available in the Tigers Den shop. Get your copy then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rumour has it that Andy Hay may be a signing in the pipeline. I've never got over why we let him go in the first place - One of our biggest mistakes ever in my opinion.

Pics from the Leeds game are now online. Please click the pic below see them. 

Leeds v Castleford

Read the MATCH REPORT (it will be there eventually) or read the "live" commentary that I did below.

So, Leeds get a narrow victory over us again and we just manage to hang on to 4th spot - We need to beat the Wildcats on Friday to get back on track.

Tonight's "LIVE" match report can be viewed by clicking HERE

You will need to press the REFRESH button in your browser or the F5 key to get the updates - I will be online for the whole game so will be updating the page every few minutes.

At the end of the game, the report will be transferred onto the main news page.

I have updated the POLL/VOTE page and put the results of the previous poll below (and also in the ARCHIVE)

The new poll asks "Who has been the best player for Cas so far this season???"

 This question is actually part of 2 separate votes (as the voting page only allows 10 possible answers per question and there is more than 10 players!!!). This will mean that the voting % won't be correct on the page as it will only take into account votes passed on those particular 10 players in each question. It will give you a rough indication of how they are doing though :-)

Confused???? You will be :-)))

When the voting is completed, I will combine the statistics to give a true reflection of your opinions.

Results of previous poll

Question:  Where will Cas finish in the Table???    votes  percent   1.) 3rd 182   52%   2.) 4th 92   27%   3.) 5th 41   12%   4.) 6th 6   2%   5.) Lower than 7th 16   5%   6.) Higher than 3rd 10   3%

1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Votes:  347

So most of you think that the Tigers will finish 3rd in SL5. This was a surprising result to me as the top 3 look far too good for us at the moment BUT, I've obviously got less faith in the teams ability than you.

COME ON THE TIGERS - Prove me wrong and the majority right :-)

I'm getting far too lazy these days - I'm going to watch Saturday's game from the comfort of my armchair!!!

Anyway, because of this, I will be doing another "live" match report (updated every couple of minutes for those of you who can't make the game. Remember to refresh your browsers (F5 key in IE)

Barrie-Jon Mather will be available for selection for the Rhinos match on Saturday as will Nathan Sykes and Aaron Raper - All 3 have recovered from injury.

Lee Harland was found "no case to answer to" after he was put on report in the Hull game.

Hull 4 Castleford 18 

Read the