Castleford Tigers Archived News

Wigan beat St Helens 44:10 last night to claim their place in next weeks Grand Final against the Bradford Bulls****ers - Guess who I want to win!!! :-)

The Superleague playoffs next season will be for the top 6 clubs instead of the top 5 - The exact format is not yet clear but this is due to a big shake up in how the game is going to be run.

Rugby League clubs gave their backing for a national league structure of five divisions played throughout the summer.

The 31 professional clubs unanimously supported the main body of proposals for sweeping changes from the game's strategic review commission.

League chairman Sir Rodney Walker, who launched the strategic review, hailed the decision-making as "a very significant day for rugby league".

"It was important the game came to realise that we have to be serious about
the way we run the game."

Club representatives, who re-affirmed their support for a transparent system of promotion and relegation, had earlier rejected the idea of reducing Super League to 10 teams.

But they agreed to make Ł500,000 available from central funds to directly help clubs outside the top flight.

A total of Ł200,000 will go to the National League clubs in 2002, with Ł300,000 to be distributed the following year.

Clubs also gave the green light for an expanded representative programme in 2002, incorporating a two-match Origin Series and a one-off Test in Australia in mid-summer in addition to the incoming tour by New Zealand in the autumn.

Plans to turn the World Club Challenge into a six-team World Club Championship, introduce a six nations tournament and bring back the Charity Shield were among the items deferred.

In other decisions made today, amateur clubs drawn first out of the hat against professional clubs in the Challenge Cup will be allowed to play their ties at home and the age group for the Academy competition is to be increased from under-18 to under-19 with the under-21 competition scrapped.

The council awarded associate League membership to Keighley, who were re-formed after the old club went into liquidation at the end of last season, and Gateshead Thunder were made full members.

Among the recommendations to get the green light at the RFL Council meeting at Headingley were:

1.Super League to remain with 12 clubs at least until 2003 but the end-of-season play-offs will be extended to incorporate the top six teams instead of five.

2.The Association of Premiership Clubs will operate a 19-team league, starting in December, but will be split into two divisions for 2003 and be re-titled National Leagues One and Two.

3.Both National League One and Two will have a six-team play-off culminating in a Grand Final, with the winners earning promotion as long as they meet minimum standards.

4.Amateur teams will form a 10-strong National League Three in 2002 to be run
concurrently with Super League.

6.Non-Super League clubs will play a National League Cup competition in mid-season, based on a geographical basis up to the knockout stages.

Graham Steadman has finally been confirmed as head coach for next season and Gary Mercer has been appointed as his deputy.

Steady certainly seems to know what he wants to do because he's having a clear out at the club - Lets hope he can get the talent in to replace them

I would like to get photos of all the Cas shirts through time so if anyone has any photos they can e-mail to me, or if you can point me in the right direction as to which strips were worn in which year, then it would be a big help in getting started.

If anyone wants to add their profile to the site or wants one that's already one, updating, please let me know (You can add a new profile from the page itself)

Still updating the site - I just some more wallpapers and I think that they are my best attempts yet as I'm finally getting to grips with Paintbrush Pro 7.

Also changed the Postcards section around and added more images for you to send to your friends and relatives.

I've also started archiving last seasons stuff such as match reports, league table etc. but you can still easily find them.

Sorted out the Player Info section, archiving the retired players and updating the new players.

Updated the Links page so only the decent sites are listed (If I've missed any off, please let me know)

Had a quick look at the Road Trip page but if you see any directions that are incorrect or have better routes, then please let me know.

And that's about it - I'll still be tidying a few bits and pieces up and getting ready for the season when new photos and info becomes available and will also be updating the news page as usual will all the news, gossip and rumours from the club.

The club seem intent on going ahead with the 200 club - It was a good idea BUT, the majority of fans have shown that they couldn't care less about it. 76 people registering their interest is not a good indicator - The club are holding another meeting shortly to try and get the idea moving again.

I realise that we need to improve the ground and get more money in BUT, if people don't want it, then it ain't gonna happen.

I personally hope to see it come off even though I have no interest at all in becoming a member of the 200 club.

Most fans go down the lane to watch the rugby and not to have a few pints in posh surroundings!!!

Darren Shaw has left the Tigers to join Salford - I feel that he will be missed at the club next season.

Wigan lost to Bradford last night, who now make the Final at Old Trafford. Wigan play The Saints next week to see who joins them.

Newcastle won the ARL Grand Final yesterday blowing away the Paramatta Eels 24:0 in the 1st half to eventually only win by 6 points - A cracking match to watch.

It now has a Sega Megadrive emulator on it and also the game Australian Rugby League by EA Sports - It's dated 1995 and is very good - It's what you've come to expect from the EA Sports division.

Anyway, the file is just over 1 meg in size so it shouldn't take long to download and I think that you will be pleased that you did.

Cas have failed to sign Brendan Reeves - Something to do with him not getting paid by his Australian team unless he signed with Manly

I've started doing a bit of tidying up of the site and this will take place over the next few weeks - For the 1st time in years, there won't be any major changes to the site.

I like the layout at the moment and I've had no complaints from you about it either :-)

I will be putting a few questions up shortly for you to answer about one or 2 areas so I would appreciate it if you would let me know what you feel. I'll let you know when they are up.

Rumours are flying around that Cas are about to offload Darren Shaw to Salford - I feel that this will be a big loss to the club as he is one of the most consistent players.

Not a good way to end of a poor season - Injuries have been against us at times but the team needs strengthening in most areas - I still say let's give Steadman a chance and give him time to build a team - If it doesn't work out, then get rid at the end of next season.

The match itself was error ridden but was fairly entertaining to watch anyway. Not a lot else to say about it as both teams didn't really care who won as there was nothing to play for.

Jon Roper will play his last game for Cas tomorrow - He has signed a contract to play for Leigh next season.

Anybody think that Cas should pay some sort of tribute to Tawera Nikau next week for his last game in this Country.

I feel that he was a great player for Cas and should get a good send off by both sets of fans, especially with the tough time he had at the start of this season and deciding to come back to play.

I didn't think that this was a bad result - I fully expected to be beaten by a score much larger than this from the Champs elect (In my opinion anyway)

Last game of the season next week and for the 1st time in 2 seasons there are no playoffs to look forward to. At least we can cheer when Leeds fall at the first hurdle!!! :-)

Another big loss to one of the top sides. I can't make my mind up if we're playing bad rugby at the moment (certainly on defence) or whether the other sides are just too good for us.

Anyway, I'll be off to the Jungle next week to give the lads their last chance of the season against Wigan. If they do okay, then I'll go to the Warrington game as well but if they don't perform, then I'll cut my season short too :-)

Dean Sampson has been handed the job of coaching the Tigers Alliance/Under-21’s team for next season with Tony Marchant having gained control of the Academy side

Cas have signed Andy Johnson, a Centre from the Broncos who has also played for Wigan. Andy said "I'm delighted to have signed for Castleford. They are a good team who are always there or thereabouts in the chase for the top five. "I'm looking forward to linking up with the players and towards playing in front of a good enthusiastic crowd. This is definitely a good move for me."

This comes from a friend who plays with a friend of Jamie Rooney's

Apparently, he will/wants to go to Huddersfield for next season - stating that he wants to play in the Superleague - Now this could mean that either Cas won't be in Superleague, Wakefield will be relegated no matter what, or that he thinks Hudds will survive.

Anyway, remember that this is JUST RUMOUR so please don't take it as any more than that.

Sounds like the team had a bad 1st half and a fairly good 2nd half, especially with so many top players out. 56 point is still a hell of a lot to concede though.

Just got back from 2 weeks away in sunny Crete so I'm overweight, tired and drunk - Pretty much like the Cas players eh!!! It's just a joke - Don't take me too seriously!!! :-)

Well, we lost to Warrington and Leeds and are about to play Bradford this afternoon. Our top 5 place for this season is gone.

We've signed Hooker Wayne Bartrim from St George-Illawarra for the next 2 seasons. He sounds like a good one and is also a top goalkicker , which will be useful.

Adrian Vowles has signed for the Rhinos for next season. Not sure how I feel about this one - He has served the club well but Steadman and Co. obviously think he is surplus to requirements (at the contract asking price anyway)

Cas are also not giving new contracts to Jason Flowers and Ian Tonks for next season and they will be free to find new clubs. I think this is good for the club as without wishing to be nasty, we haven't offloaded much dead wood for the last few seasons.

Dean Sampson HAS signed a contract for next year which will see him continue at his one and only club with possible coaching responsibilities as well - This is a good move as he is still our best prop (usually)

The team really surprised me tonight - I thought we would get whipped, it looked as though we would get whipped (at 10:0 down after 12 minutes), but we didn't get whipped.

Yes, the Saints did make a lot of mistakes but so did we. We dug in deep and produced an excellent performance. If I'm being overly critical then we still look poor in certain areas but the players proved that they can compete at the highest level and this was one of those games where even if we had lost, although obviously disappointed, I would have come away happy anyway - It was top quality value for money tonight and just the tonic needed to keep the crowd interested for the rest of the season.

London 40 Castleford 10

I was actually away in London for the weekend but only got to watch the last 10 minutes on SKY. We didn't look good - Don't know if we were like that all game or not but it's very hard to make the top 5 now.

Ex-Cas player, David Nelson has been shot dead - Here is the extract from the Yorkshire Evening Post by David Bruce.

A SECOND man killed in a Leeds pub shooting died "sticking up for his best mate", his grieving partner said today.

Joseph "Jock" Montgomery died in hospital yesterday afternoon after being hit by a bullet when a masked gunman burst into the Wilson's Arms pub in Seacroft.

Mr Montgomery threw a beer glass at the gunman as he shot and killed his best friend, ex-rugby league star David Nelson.

Mr Montgomery's partner Lisa Wheelhouse and both his parents were at his bedside when he died in the intensive care unit at St James's Hospital.

Lisa, 28, his partner of two years, today told of her horror at the Sunday afternoon shooting – and her anguish as she waited for an ambulance to arrive.

She was in the pub's pool room, sitting next to David Nelson, when the masked gunman walked in.

She said: "David and Jock have been best mates for years. I just knew he would do something for his best friend. He is that sort of man – you help out if you are friends.

"He threw a glass to try and stop the gunman and that was it. The guy just fired."

A nurse tried to help her severely-injured partner as she and other customers made frantic calls to the ambulance service.

"There was nothing anyone could do. I was outside just waiting for the ambulance.

"The ambulance took at least 20 minutes to arrive – they have to wait for armed police."

Lisa said that she and Jock had recently moved from the Seacroft area to a new home in Colton, on the outskirts of the city. She added: "I loved Jock."

Mr Montgomery, 39, who was born in Glasgow, had two sisters and three brothers, one of whom died three years ago.

Today, Det Supt Eddie Hemsley, leading what is now a double murder inquiry, said police had received a number of positive calls from members of the public – some of them promising.

It is believed that one line of inquiry for detectives will be gambling debts that Mr Nelson is thought to have run up. Three days before his murder he had been slightly injured in a shooting incident outside the same pub.

Mr Hemsley said it was still important that they had more information about a red car, driven by a second masked man, which sped away from the Wilson's Arms moments after Sunday's shooting.

Youngsters and parents dived for cover after the gunman walked into the Moresdale Lane pub at 2.20pm.

Three shots were fired. One claimed the life of Mr Nelson. A second hit a radiator. The third claimed the life of Mr Montgomery, the father of two daughters and a son.

David Nelson's professional rugby league career spanned from 1987 to 1996 when he played for Sheffield Eagles, Castleford and Wakefield Trinity.

The former winger, 38, who had a seven-year-old daughter and lived with his ex-partner in Foundry Mill Street, Seacroft, was shot at point blank range.

Detectives today appealed for anyone with information to contact Killingbeck Police incident room on (0113) 241 3789.

His murder is not the first tragedy to strike the Nelson family. In 1993, David's younger brother Michael was killed in a horror car crash in Gipton.

In what was Dean Sampson's 400th match for the Tigers, they just managed to scrape a victory against Superleagues perennial losers, the Huddersfield Giants.

Huddersfield far outplayed their league position and there's no wonder they have done well lately. They threw the ball around and tried to make things happen.

Cas plugged away at it and could have won a lot more easily if they could had managed to eliminate silly errors (especially disciplinary ones - Sampson and Harland take note!!!). Losing the ball early in the tackle count certainly doesn't help the cause.

And, credit where it's due - Waine Pryce had a decent game - I'm one of his biggest knockers but he played well today and will certainly be happy to eat my words if he turns out to be a good one :-)

Leeds lost as well so it's only a 4 point gap to 5th again. Next week we play London and MUST win it to keep the pressure on the Rhino's

Bradford 44 Castleford 4

It wasn't a big surprise to be honest but Bradford did look like a very good side today.

As I've been saying for most of the season now, we need to build for next season - This one has all but gone - There's just pride to play for now and a few good performances will keep the fans including myself happy - The team will start losing support though if they think they can take it easy from now until the end of the season.

Not an awful lot of news this week from the club - Haven't even heard any rumours!!!

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Not Gary!!!)

Let me start off by saying that I wasn't at the game and didn't hear it on the radio either so I don't really know how the team played - What I do know though is that even if we played well, it wasn't good enough and we seem to have slipped nicely back into how we were a few seasons ago where a good performance one weeks means that we can lose against "inferior" opposition (although I'm sure Halifax don't believe they are inferior)

How we can beat Leeds one week and lose to the Blue Sox the next is beyond me - The team now have little realistic chance of making the top 5 - A win yesterday would have kept the pressure on Leeds and Hull but now gives them some breathing space.

We need to make some signings that will play week in, week out and be able to perform consistently.

I do agree that there will be the odd blip along the way of every teams season but there has been a blip every few weeks so far in this campaign.

So, after saying all that, the team no doubt need the backing of the supporters more than ever and I for one will be supporting them to the hilt against the Bulls next weekend.

Anyone want to bet against us going to Odsal (or is it Valley Parade???) and getting a result ??? It's just like this team to pull it off :-)

Halifax 22 Castleford 16

Gareth Handford has been released back to Bradford by the club. Obviously, Graham Steadman prefers the other youngsters instead of him - Let's hope he's right - Handford had failed to make an impression with me despite playing in a lot of games this season.

Pheeeeeewwwww!!!!!!!!! What a match!!! A really good first half performance from The Tigers was just enough for them to hold on in the 2nd half for a well deserved victory.

I can't fault any of the team tonight for effort although Leeds did look capable of tearing us apart at will in the 2nd half.

Lets hope that they can keep up the pressure on the top 5 now by winning consistently week in and week out.

Eager signs new deal

Castleford Tigers are delighted to announce that centre Michael Eagar has agreed a new deal with the club. Mike has signed a two-year extension that will keep him with the Tigers until the end of 2003.

The Aussie joined Castleford from Warrington three years ago and has developed into one of Super Leagueąs best all-round centres. Last years he was awarded the competitions highest honour as a member of the 2000 Dream Team.

Great on defence, Mike is also a regular tryscorer and his re-signing was one of the Tigers top priorities. And the club is particularly delighted to have struck a deal because an Aussie NRL side, and a top-four Lancashire based Super League club, had also made him offers.

But Mike has enjoyed his time with the Tigers and was happy to sign a new deal. Mike said "I have had three good years with Castleford and although there were other offers which I had to consider I am happy that things have all been sorted out and the deal is signed. Itąs a great club and the players are a good bunch. The club have done well over the past two seasons, winning a place in the top-five and although we have some catching up to do this year things are moving in the right direction and Iąm sure the Tigers will continue to push for honours. At the moment it is very frustrating not being able to play with my hand injury, but things are progressing and I hope to be back before too long."

Castlefordąs Chief Executive is very pleased to have struck a new deal with Mike, saying we were anxious to ensure that Michael committed himself to a new deal with the Tigers where he has established himself as one of our key players, and I am pleased to say that we have now agreed this two year deal. Our discussions have taken some time but I was aware that he has had other, good offers and obviously he has had to consider all his options. Thankfully he has been very happy at the club and that, coupled with fact that he sees the Tigers as still being very ambitious, played a big part in his agreeing a new deal.

Castleford coach Graham Steadman is also happy that Mike has signed up for another two-years. Itąs good news for me, said Graham. Mike is a quality centre and an important member of the club. He is the sort of player we need to keep and Iąm pleased that Mike has agreed to this deal.

Anyone think that having Crooksy as Steadmans deputy would be a good idea ??? You heard it here first!!! (if it happens!!!)

Raperless

Cas are now Raperless after Aaron has been released from his contract due to injury

Salford 18 Castleford 26

A good victory for Cas away from home but it should have been a heck of a lot easier - The Tigers spurned loads of chances in the match and should have run out much easier victors. Salford put up a good fight in the 2nd half but Cas were just too strong.

It was a good game to watch and although I have already said that too many mistakes were made, it's still 2 points in the bag and we always raise our game for the more important games - Like this Friday against the Rhinos

A bit of a disappointment this one - Listened to the game on the radio and to be honest, it didn't sound the best of games.

Don't know if you feel like me but theses games are ones that we are more than capable of winning and SHOULD be winning so we are definitely under performing - We proved we can do it last week against Hull and have come close on a few occasions against other top 5 opposition but I'm afraid our top 5 hopes for this season now look dead and buried.

Lets hope that we can play well for the rest of the year and that Steadman can strengthen the squad and get the best out of them.

Mark Lennon has signed an extended contract with the club to see him through to the end of next season - The best news for a while at the club.

What a good game to watch - Apart from the appalling refereeing decisions by Karl Kirkpatrick!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again - He is bad - And it's always for both sides - I'll give him that - He is consistently bad and there's not a hint of bias - He's just plain bad!!!

Anyway, Cas finally broke loose on attack and notched up some quality scores - The defence on the other hand was pretty poor but they did managed to sustain a lot of Hull pressure for 20 minutes in the 2nd half and still come up with the victory - Man of the match went to Adrian Vowles but I'd have given it to Mark Lennon - He had an outstanding match and from his performances so far this season should be a starter whether our regular players are fit or not.

Our first try by Lennon was a beauty with Vowles getting Rogers free who timed his pass to Lennon just right. Jon Wells also showed a bit of pace for the 2nd try with an 80 metre sprint to the line and he clinched it late in the 2nd half just slamming the ball over the line whilst stretching out.

So, there's still room for improvement but after the last month or so, this was a brilliant team performance - Let's hope that Steadman continues to pick players on merit rather than reputation because the Tigers actually looked like they wanted to play today.

Michael Eagar will be confined to the sidelines for the next six to eight weeks with a bad hand injury. He has already undergone surgery, which included pinning two of his broken fingers.

Heard a rumour yesterday that instead of getting compensation from Wigan for Stuart Raper leaving, Cas have asked for Simon Haughton and Chris Chester. It'll be interesting to see if this one is fact or fiction

Wow - Superleague have finally got their own site again and quite nice it looks too :

2 tries in the last 5 minutes (the last one being both a piece of skill from Richard Gay AND a cock up by the Wildcats) gave Cas a victory that neither side really deserved.

The headline on this page after 20 minutes was going to be "We're S**t and we know we are" but the team did buck up their ideas after that although a lot of errors were still made.

So, a first win for Steadman but there is still a lot of work to be done - We look an average side at best this season and the team seem to be struggling to break the first tackle.

I've just seen the highlights (Wigan's Tries) of the match on Sky and we did look shocking - Not quite sure what we can do to stop the bad run but lets hope that Steadman has some ideas - If not, it'll be back to being a water carrier before long!!!

I've been following the game "as live" on the sporting life website this evening and it sounds like a real shambles so far (half time) :

2034: Wigan seem to have won this in the first-half, Farrell runs through an ineffective defence for a try he goals himself. 22-0 to the hosts.

2017: The impressive Terry Newton is over for Wigan. 16-0 and a long evening looks in store for the Tigers.

2013: Breathing space for Wigan - Kris Radlinski is over for a touchdown which Farrell converts.

2005: A good start for the Warriors with winger David Hodgson blazing over in the corner. No goal from Andy Farrell but its 4-0 to the hosts.

2000: Under way at the JJB Stadium with Stuart Raper's old side Castleford the visitors to his new club Wigan. It should be some game.

2139: The full-time hooter is close but Wigan hit 50 with a converted Radlinski try.

2134: Johnson grabs a second try to send Wigan heading towards their half-century.

2126: The Tigers are edging towards respectability - Danny Orr is over a try he converts himself.

2110: At last Castleford have hit back - a Michael Eager try. Danny Orr goals but at 34-6 they still have much to do.

2107: A rout is on the cards. Newton has a second try, Farrell another goal, Wigan lead 34-0.

2102: Castleford needed a good start to the second period but don't have it - Phil Jones crosses for a try which Farrell converts.

I'm not usually one to get upset at the team but this was absolutely Sh*t - 54 points is a very poor score to lose by and even if they lose, there's no way that 54 points should be conceded.

What a load of rubbish tonights team were (and before someone says it, no, I couldn't do any better!!! But then again I could probably not do any worse either!!!)

Okay, I've left it 24 hours since the defeat since posting anything on here. I thought that saying the team played crap might have been a bit of an overstatement at the time but upon reflection, THEY WERE CRAP and well deserved the boos that rang around the stadium at the end.

In my opinion, the only decent players for Cas yesterday were Darren Rogers and Michael Smith.

It was a truly abysmal performance and we were unable to make any sort of breakthrough on the Bronco's defence. The only bright sport came this morning when my Wildcats boss said that they were exactly the same against London. He said that London were excellent at shutting teams down. This may be the case, but I still think that we could have done an awful lot better.

I hate knocking the team because as much as it looked like they weren't trying, I'm sure that they really were.

Graham Steadman must be thinking that it's a pretty hard task he has on his hands but at least it can't get any worse than that!!!

OUT

TEMPORARILY IN

Stuart Raper

Graham Steadman

Wow - Big changes at the Tigers today - Stuart Raper has resigned to become the new coach of The Wigan Warriors - Raper said that he was looking forward to coaching a big club like Wigan but will also be leaving a big club in Castleford.

Graham Steadman has been put in temporary charge of the team and will have his first game as boss on Sunday against London at The Jungle - It'll be interesting to see if Graham is given the job until the end of the season or whether another replacement is brought in for Raper before then.

Personally, after giving it a bit of thought, I'd stick with Steadman - If he is good enough to get on the coaching staff of Great Britain or England (whichever one it is) then I think he should be given a chance to prove himself.

Let's face facts - The club haven't got a lot of money to spend and Raper did an exceptional job for the club in his 4 years in charge - Steadman will be in a similar situation and will have to try and get the best out of the players just like Stuart did.

To be honest, there is only so much a coach can do - If the players are good enough, they will do it (mostly) by themselves and by the looks of the current squad, they have probably achieved as much as they are likely to do.

So realistically, Steadman has a hell of a job to do (or whoever takes over). Raper leaves the club in a very good state and it'll take someone special to take it on that extra step - Let's hope they can do it though :-)

Anyway, I'd personally like to thank Stuart Raper for the job he has done over the last few seasons and wish him well at Wigan (except when they come up against us!!!)

Castleford Tigers have announced today that Head Coach Stuart Raper is to leave the Club to take up the reigns of Wigan Warriors with immediate effect.

Chief Executive Richard Wright said “Stuart has done an outstanding job for the Tigers and we offered him a new deal for next season. We wanted him to stay but the ongoing uncertainty with regard to the future was not helpful and it was important that the matter was resolved. We wish him well in the future and I am sure he well do a great job at Wigan.

Graham Steadman will take charge of first team affairs on a temporary basis. He is very ambitious and wants the job and has demonstrated he is very talented which has been recognised with his selection as part of the England and G.B coaching team.

Our ambitions for the future remain the same. We have developed a reputation for over-achieving and are determined that this will continue. We have a big game against the London Broncos and there is absolutely no reason why we cannot maintain the high standards that have been set in Stuart’s time here”.

Graham Steadman said “I am very happy to be given this chance. The timing is not ideal but it is an opportunity that I am going to take. I have the full backing of the players and from today we start preparing for an important match at the weekend when we tackle the London Broncos”.

So Cas came back strong in the 2nd half after being 20:8 down at the interval AND Deano scored a hat trick of tries - Pretty unusual game then!!!

The Tigers seemed to get it together after the interval (translates into being given a good old fashioned Bo%$&^%ing by Raper after the 1st 40 minutes) and ran out easy winners in the end.

London next week should be a craker of the game and I'm certainly going down the lane to see that one - It's a BIG, BIG game in Cas' season in their plight for a top 5 spot. At least we're back above the Wildcats now!!!

It wasn't surprising really as they needed to come back after 2 shocking league defeats in a row and with Cas' poor record against top 5 teams, I can't honestly say that it was a surprise.

It was a very close game but once again, Cas just couldn't come out on top against one of the top 4 sides in Superleague. The Tigers made a late 2nd half comeback being 22:8 down and nearly did it - Darren Rogers foot just touching the line as he touched down.

Plenty to look back on now the game is over - Silly Cas penalties (especially by Fritz in the first half which gave the Bulls 2 easy points in front of the sticks)

A much needed 2 points in the bag but the result was in doubt up until the last 10 minutes.

The game was very similar to the Salford one in so much as we always looked the better team but a few silly mistakes let the opposition score tries.

Man of the match again was Michael Smith although I would have given it to Mark Lennon. I know that Mitch Healy hasn't shown us his best just yet but Lennon has fitted into the side ,and his position, perfectly and is playing really well.

From my position in the ground there looked to be a few dubious refereeing decisions but then again the players didn't seem too concerned by them so they were *probably* okay!!!

I think that we need to hope for a hard fought Bulls win in the Cup Final next week so that we can have a good run at them the following Saturday.

Bugger - Yet another defeat, after being 12:0 in the lead early on. Leeds were just too good and the lads definitely need a victory on Sunday against Halifax if anything is going to come from this season.

Well, I don't know about you, but I thought that this was the most entertaining game of the season so far - Unfortunately, it was the wrong result.

We should have been a lot further ahead (rather than behind!!!) at the end of the first half and it was slack defending that saw Salford get a brilliant try for them by kicking through to find that Cas didn't have anyone capable of running faster than 5 MPH.

The game swung one way and then the other and as much as I dislike him, Bobby Goulding swung the game for them with his kicking.

Cas virtually handed Salford the game with crucial errors from the kicks but even so, I don't feel that it was a bad performance from the team.

Look, if Wakey can beat Bradford and Warrington can turn over Leeds, then it doesn't seem too bad - BUT, we now have to win the harder games if we want a top 5 spot - Hull don't seem to be failing and I'm sure that the top 4 will finish up as expected.

Lets see if we can beat Leeds' youngsters on Monday before getting too despondent.

Photos from the game (Taken by me off the TV) can be found in the

section by clicking on

The match saw a good solid performance from Cas although the Wolves never looked to be that interested. Not surprising with all the bad news coming out of Wilderspool in the last 24 hours.

The minutes silence was observed immaculately by all EXCEPT a group of senseless women in the hospitality box with the Yorkshire Electricity sign above it, who thought it was fun to shout and laugh and generally make some noise.

Once again, it was wet and windy - I thought I was back in Hull, just like the last game, so it was scrappy in places.

"Tawera Nikau and Lee Briers have both suffered family bereavements and are unlikely to play in tonight's game at Castleford. With Nikau, it is his wife Letitia who has died suddenly, apparently having committed suicide last night."

If this is the case, then I'm sure that everyone will wish both players well, especially T - what an awful thing to happen.

Looks like Tawera's wife has died - this is off the Official Warrington site (doesn't say anything about how she died though)

"Warrington Wolves send their greatest condolences to Tawera Nikau on the untimely passing of his wife. All at the club are greatly saddened by the loss and would ask all press and fans to respect Tawera's privacy at this difficult time."

Team for tonight is : Gay, Rogers, Eagar, Mather, Wells, Orr, Healey, Sykes, Raper, Handford, Harland, Fritz, Vowles
Subs : Smith, Shaw, Hepi, Lynch, Lennon

3 fixtures have been changed - 2 have been brought forward a day to 1st and 9th of June and the Saints game at the end of April has yet to be given a new date.

The proposals for the ground improvements look to be favourable with the fans - A lot of positive comments have been made about it and hopefully these plans will now come off as the club has already met the other 3 Superleague franchise criteria - It's just the ground that now needs bringing up to standard

Mitch Healey, Dean Sampson, Aaron Raper and Lee Harland have all left the injured list. Only Jason Flowers is still injured, recovering from close-season shoulder surgery, but should be fit to resume in the next couple of weeks.

Stuart Raper has applied for the Cronulla Sharks job which will be vacant at the end of the season - Even if he doesn't get it, in my opinion, we need to be looking for his replacement immediately because once a person's heart is no longer in the job, you really need to get fresh blood in.

I'm not saying that Raper won't continue to do the great job that he's already done for the club until the end of the season, it's just that if we can bring a new coach in now (in an assistant coaching role - Raper SHOULD still be in charge) he can see how the team is playing and have a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the players BEFORE next season - If we leave it until then to appoint someone, it will take a chunk out of next season to get things going again.

Well, I did think of doing it again but after last years success, I decided not to try and fool you with another April Fool this time around.

Oh yeah, was anyone else as pleased as me watching Leeds lose the Semi-Final yesterday???

One last thing before I go and get drunk (It's my 29th Birthday today!!!), Anyone think that Darryl Van De Velde will get the sack after we beat them in a weeks time ???

The couple of weeks gap between the next game appears to have allowed a few of the injured to heal :-)

Brad Hepi should be okay as he had an eye problem which is now okay, Ian Tonks has a knee injury that may be okay before the next match.

Mitch Healey, Lee Harland, Jon Roper, Dean Sampson, Aaron Raper should also be available for selection for the Warrington game.

The following statement is taken direct form the official club website at www.castigers.com

I don't normally copy things direct from the site but since this is such a biggy, I thought it was appropriate in this instance.

Please e-mail the club direct to tell them what you think of the idea - The future of the club is at stake and your opinion does appear to matter and will help decide which direction the club goes down in the next few seasons.

Over the last few months the Tigers have been working hard to put together a scheme for the re-development of the Jungle. The club believe that they are now in a position to take this forward and
are confident that they can put the necessary funding together. They will be working closely with
Wakefield Council to get their backing for the scheme and their support in obtaining grants. The first step is to meet with the planning authorities to ensure that the proposals are acceptable to them.

The Tigers plans, which are in two stages, will bring the ground fully into line with the Framing the Future requirements and, very importantly, they will provide our fans and sponsors an improved level of comfort, which they deserve, and at a level that will allow us to attract new followers. That will include much improved bar, catering and toilet facilities.
The first stage, which could be undertaken in the 2001/02 close season, is the planned redevelopment
of the Railway End of the ground, although this scheme will be determined by the reaction of the clubs followers to the proposals.
The second, and bigger, stage is the complete replacement of the main stand, and it is planned that work on this scheme will commence at the end of season 2002.
At present the plans are to build a two level main stand, which will ensure that we have a seating
capacity of 2,500 and thus meet one of the key requirements of Framing the Future.
But there will be much more, with hospitality boxes and a restaurant on the upper floor, whilst the ground floor will include new changing rooms, a sports injury clinic, a health clinic, a gymnasium, an education and IT centre and a bigger Tiger Bar.
The plan for the Railway End is to create a new members bar by extending the hospitality boxes into the south west corner of the ground (Princess Street), knock down the dividing wall’s in the current boxes and create one long bar. The bar serving area and a kitchen would be built onto the back of the building.
The development would help us towards fulfilling the minimum standards with regards to catering and
toilets as a new catering outlet and toilet block to service both the Railway End terrace and the south end of the Princess Street Stand would be built under the bar in the Princess Street corner. Additionally a new scoreboard would be located on top of the building.
The proposals for the new bar are that it will be called the Tigers 200 Club and will provide a superb area for fans to enjoy a private facility where they can enjoy a drink and bar meals. And unlike the Tigers Bar, members will also have the facility to watch the match from the bar, or if they chose enjoy the atmosphere of the terraces or take a seat in the stand.
This scheme is dependent upon the support of the fans and their desire for this type of facility, which is available, and very popular, at a number of rugby and soccer clubs, and the club want to ensure that there is sufficient interest from Tigers followers.
To become a member of the ‘Tigers 200 Club’ fans would be asked to pay an entry fee of Ł500 for a
ten-year membership.
For that membership fee they would enjoy the facility outlined, somewhere where they can meet friends in comfort, enjoy a drink, if they choose have a bite to eat and if the elements are not to their liking, watch the match from their bar.
And there would be other benefits, for example a 10% discount on their season ticket (on top of any
other general discount offers, such as early bird schemes), and free hire of the facilities on non
match-days.
The Ł500 membership fee would also be staggered with Ł250 payable initially, followed by Ł50 per
month throughout the close season.
What the club now want to establish is whether this is a scheme that their fans want to see happen. We will be writing out to all season ticket holders but this is open to anyone and if fans are interested they are asked to contact the club by letter, E-Mail or telephone.
If the take up is sufficient work could start this September and the bar would be ready for next year.

Mmmmmmmm, not quite sure what to make of the game - The only thing that I do know is that it was Bloody Cold!!!

I thought that we didn't play badly but then again we didn't seem to have too much idea in attack and our kicking game was the worst I've seen for a couple of seasons - Always straight to a Hull player.

Saying that, it may have been that Hull were very good in defence - They needed to be because for the first 30 minutes of the 1st half they were absolutely awful and couldn't hold on to the ball.

Also, Cas did have a lot of injury problems and the players that came in did a good job - Not many people expected us to get anything from The Boulevard but we came away with a point. It could have and should have been more - Danny's drop goal hit the post in the first half - Eager couldn't hold on to a pass which he had done he would have fallen over the line to score, and we messed it up at the end failing to collect the kick through and gifting Hull the draw.

I'm, not too disappointed though, looking at the other results, it would seem that it's us, Hull and London who will be battling for the 5th spot this season and it should be interesting.

One last point. I took my son to Hull for the first time and there wasn't even a hint of trouble at the ground - I didn't even hear any bad language (except unfortunately from myself at the referee). It would appear from this game that Hull have managed to clean their act up and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as an away trip for anyone.

Lets hope that Warrington don't manage to recover too much in the next 2 weeks - They were surprisingly slaughtered by Salford today - Both these teams are our next 2 opponents at home.

X-rays have revealed no broken ribs for Dean Sampson. However, it is not yet know whether he will be fit for the Hull game.

Aaron Raper is definitely out with a dislocated elbow and Lee Harland is doubtful with concussion.

Cas has again signed Brad Hepi on a months loan - Depending on the injury situation and how he performs, he could become a permanent member of the squad.

Well, we lost the game but didn't get completely dumped on. We suffered 2 injuries in the game to Harland and Raper and we all know that Raper is a major influence to Cas' game.

Wigan did look good and unfortunately, once again it looks like that to beat one of the top 4 sides, we'll have to play magnificently and they'll have to play under par.

I'm not too down with this defeat though. We can certainly challenge for the 5th spot and next weeks game against Hull will be a good indication of how good we are.

Richard Gay
Darren Rodgers
Michael Eagar
BJ Mather
Jon Wells
Danny Orr
Mark Lennon
Dean Sampson
Aaron Raper
Nathan Sykes
Ian Tonks
Darren Shaw
Adrian Vowles
Lee Harland
Michael Smith
Dale Fritz
Gareth Handford

Two of Cas' long-term injured players returned to play in a reserve match last night. Dale Fritz played for twenty minutes, which was sufficient for coach Raper to include him in the Tigers' squad for Saturday's game against Wigan. The other player was Andy McNally who has been out of action for twelve months.

We've got off to a winning start in Superleague VI - But it was a really tough game. Cas did well to come back into the game after being 9:0 down at half time and it showed that we have got some fighting spirit in the side - It's always a tough game against the Wildcat.

I'm going to miss the opening game of the season!!! - I've been struck down with the flu - I coped for a whole week while my family have been lying in bed poorly but as soon as the season is about to kick off, I GO AND CATCH IT!!! :-(

Just updated the

page again - more MP3's rather than other formats so the downloads are smaller for you :-)

Another plug for the

page - I haven't received a lot of new profiles for a while so please go along, see what others have written and then feel free to send me your own - Please do like reading about you, honest!!! :-)

If you are already up there and want any details adding/amending just let me know - Cheers for now - Mark :-)

I have just been updating the

section of the site - You can now download 4 new songs (Or you will be able to when Freeserve let me send the files - hopefully in the next day or so!!!)- It's a Kind of Magic, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Land Down Under and Hey Micky and also a new version of Topcat - BUT, I'm sure I heard some new songs being played on Saturday. I can't for the life of me remember which ones they were - Anyone who can jog my memory please e-mail me mark@rangeyMONSTER.demon.co.uk (Remove the MONSTER for mail to get to me)

Photos from the Leeds game (Taken by me off the TV) can be found in the

section by clicking on

Okay, the better team won - There are no excuses - Letting Leeds go 16:0 up through rank bad tackling (non-existent would be a better word to describe it) and terrible ball handling in the first 20 minutes meant that it was going to be a gigantic hill to climb to get back into the game.

Credit where credit is due, the lads played much better after that but Leeds (unfortunately) did look a class act.

Tony Carroll looked absolutely awesome at centre and his speed and strength means that he is going to be an exciting player to watch - Too early for a man of steel award??? You read it here first :-)

Cas mounted a short comeback at the end of the 1st and start of the 2nd half but The Rhinos turned the momentum back round to run in lots more points.

The crowd was a whopping 11,400 and the atmosphere would have been better if the Tigers had performed better.

There were a few positive signs - My man of the match would have been Michael Smith - When he came on as substitute he started making the breaks that the team needed. I hope he can continue to do this in every game he plays.

So, we're out of the cup - At least it lets us concentrate on winning Superleague VI - That's how I'm looking at it anyway!!! :-)))

Raper tipped to take over at Cronulla

Castleford Tigers' Stuart Raper is tipped to return to the Cronulla Sharks next year as head coach following confirmation on Friday that this is John Lang's last season in the job.

Despite saying last week that he wanted to wait until later in the year before deciding whether to continue for a ninth season with the Sharks, Lang announced today that he was quitting.

In a brief statement, he said he would not be seeking an extension of his contract beyond this year.

"To avoid further speculation on my future at the Sharks, which may be detrimental to the Sharks' quest for the premiership this year, I've decided to make the announcement."

Raper, currently preparing for Castleford's Challenge Cup tie against the Leeds Rhinos, is a former Cronulla player and successful lower-grade coach, has long been linked to the job.

Should be a cracking game against the Rhinos tomorrow - I'm very optimistic about turning them over - We always seem to play well against them at The Jungle and they haven't really had any match practice so far this season - The 100 point victory in the last round was no more than a training session.

Gay
Rogers
Eagar
Mather
Wells
Orr
Healey
Sampson
Raper
Lynch
Tonks
Harland
Vowles
Subs :
Shaw
Sykes
Handford
Lennon

Just a reminder to you all that in the

area is

which has new questions all the time so it's well worth checking out - It was so popular on the general messageboard last season that now it's got it's own page - Can you top the table???

Cas have drawn Leeds at The Jungle in the 5th round of the Cup - I'll bet that it'll be one of the televised games - Probably the Saturday one (but we'll see in the next couple of days)

Know the answer ??? Well, whether it factually correct or not, he had a stinker of a game (for both sides)

The game itself was close until the last 10 minutes although Cas must have had 90% of the ball in attacking positions - Dewsbury very rarely mounted a serious threat to the Tiger try line (about 3 or 4 times in the entire game) BUT, they did play well in defence.

The match was played in atrocious conditions and both sides changed shirts a half time - Dewsbury to virtually identical colours as Cas. As it was though, this didn't matter because 10 minutes after the restart, everyone was gray from head to toe!!!

It was hard work for both sides and handling left a lot to be desired due to the weather.

Overall, it was a good start to the season proper and we did show glimpses of what we are capable of.

Gay
Rogers
Eagar
Mather
Wells
Orr
Healey
Sampson
Raper
Lynch
Tonks
Harland
Vowles

Here's another Cas site that has just appeared - Haven't had chance to visit it yet but it's at http://www.classycas.com

Why not visit www.yorkwaspsfund.co.uk which is the York Wasps players fund site which ex-Cas player Spencer Hargraves has set up to try and get them out of their current situation.

Added a new SCREENSAVER :-) Access it from the

page, taking the SCREENSAVER link

Just put all the new player pics on the site - All photos have been obtained from the Official Website

Cas have drawn Dewsbury away in the Challenge Cup - It is an all ticket game and you can get them on Saturday (if you are a season ticket holder and Monday if not. You can obtain them from the club shop.

Following on from the highly popular quiz questions set by "Hughie Green" on the messageboard last season, this year sees

get a whole forum to itself.

Apart from it being easier to take part and see how you are doing (due to the fact that you don't have to look through the other messageboard entries not relating to the quiz), it will also mean that the regular board will keep the messages for longer :-)

Hopefully, Hughie will stick the first question up there shortly - Good Luck Everyone :-)

We've re-signed one of our ex-players, Mike Smith from York where apparently he hasn't been having a very happy time. He is a big powerful forward who I hope can recapture some of the form he showed whilst as Cas previously and not the form he showed at Hull.

A disappointing crowd of just over 3000 saw a fairly decent performance from the Cas players in what was effectively their first game together of the season. A full strength side (more or less), after the first half hour in which both sides were poor, looked in control of the Halifax team all the way.

Not a bad warm up match and one that should get us ready for the cup game in 2 and a half weeks

Well, don't know whether the game is on or off but there is snow on the ground as I'm typing this (6:41am Friday)

Friday nights game may be on or off - Check the official site tomorrow to get all the latest :-)