Leeds 20 Castleford 12

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

I hope that Santa brought you all exactly what you wanted. If not, never mind, there's always next year!!! Bit like a trophy for the Rhinos eh??!!!!!! :-))))

Anyway, saying that, they did manage to beat us in the Boxing Day money-maker BUT, as usual, both sides were missing a lot of players who will be pivotal once the season proper starts.

Next friendly is against the Bulls in a months time

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all

I've started trying to get the site ready for the new season - Nothing is going to change from last year but there's still all the old pages to archive, all the new fixture, match report pages, new wallpaper, screensaver etc. to create - Should take a couple of weeks all being well.

He's finally arrived, weighing in at an impressive 9 and a half pounds, Oliver Jake Raynor is the Future Prop Forward of The Tigers!!!

See HERE  for the pics.

Cheers - Mark (a proud Dad)

As some of you may know, I am to become a dad in around 7 weeks time - Obviously, the site won't be updated over this period but rest assured, that I will be back as soon as possible - Probably posing stuff around 3am when Cas' future scrum half is awake and wanting feeding!!!

Castleford 16 Wigan 23

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

A disappointing end to the season in a game that we could have been more in control of at half time and a game that we could so easily have won if we hadn't dropped our guard for 2 minutes in the 2nd half.

Graham Steadman summed up my feelings after the game and it's heartening to know that the coach feels like I do - We have underperformed this season but have also seen some good young players come into the side and hopefully they will develop next season alongside the new signings that we have made.

They also announced at half time that the GMB union will be our sponsors again for next season. It's good to know that we have sponsors on board so early but as I recall, they didn't exactly give us a load of cash this time round - I hope they are giving us more for next season.

So, farewell to 8 players - To Danny Orr, Michael Eager and Mark Lennon, I think we will miss you next season but wish you all the best.

To Mitch Healy and Dale Fritz - Thanks for usually giving 100%. It was good to watch you play.

To Adrian Vowles - You should never have left for the Loiners in the first place BUT, it's nice to see you back at Cas for the last 3 games.

Andy Johnson and Wayne Bartrim - Thanks for your efforts.

And that's it for another season. It'd end nicely if it finished with the Rhino's once again finishing the season with the same number of trophies as us!!!

Bradford 14 Castleford 28

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Wow - We managed to beat the Bulls at Odsal - No mean feat there - Unfortunately, it doesn't mean much as the Bulls are assured top spot and we can't make the playoffs. Mind you, it's nice to see the team putting in some excellent effort even if it is a bit too late for this season.

Hull 32 Castleford 12

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

This loss means that we are dead and buried for this season - It's disappointing because we were outplayed and didn't put up much resistance to a team that could also miss out on the top 6

Castleford 26 Huddersfield 18

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

A 2nd win in a row and our 3rd of the year of a decent enough Huddersfield side.

I wouldn't say that we played really well but we were good enough to deserve the 2 points on the night.

This does actually keep us in with a slight chance of making the top 6 although we can't afford to drop a single point from our last 3 games if we want to make it to the playoffs.

Castleford 28 Leeds 20

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Yahoo!!!! It's our yearly victory over our dear friends the Rhinos - Oh dear - What were they doing!!!!! :-)

We played really well against them and they tried to comeback after our first half onslaught but just didn't have enough against our inexperienced side. All our players did well last night and as I've said before, it's a pity that they can't do this week in, week out.

But saying that, it's a victory against Leeds - They must be feeling sick today to know that Bradford are moving further ahead at the top of the table and that they will have as many trophies on the table at the end of the season as we will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

I love it when we can not only stuff the Loiners but also help to tear there season apart a little!!!

St Helens 26 Castleford 10

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Another loss, and it was against a Saints side without 9 regulars - We are really struggling now!!!

Castleford 16 Warrington 29

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Another game lost and further away from the playoffs although with some other strange results, we are still only 2 points off that 6th place though!!!

Mind you, does anyone actually believe we can still get there having to play the top 5 teams in the run in and only having beaten 1 of them all season (Wigan in the opening game)

A poor performance by all accounts - Luckily, I couldn't make the game but my son went and said we were very poor.

Widnes 27 Castleford 16

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

This was a highly disappointing result for the Tigers in a game that they had to win to have even the remotest chance of a top 6 spot - I say that as we have the top 5 teams still to play and with the exception of the opening game of the season against Wigan, we've not been able to beat any of them.

I've not really had a rant or moan about the players this season so far (that IS a turn up for the books!!!) BUT, tonight they looked 2nd best and didn't have any idea in attack.

Unfortunately, I think the best league position we can now hope for is 10th!!! For us to do any better than this, we definitely need to beat Warrington and Huddersfield and somehow get a victory against one of the top 5 sides also.

My moan today isn't really towards the players or the coach - It looked like we didn't have the skills needed to beat Widnes and although the players appeared to try their best, it wasn't good enough.

I've always said that I'm happy if they give their best but at the moment fell slightly disappointed as they have played out of their skins in some games this season so have given me what looks like false hope that they should be playing and beating teams like the Vikings every week.

It's hard to please the supporters you know :-)))

Castleford 20 Bradford 40

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

We had this game won just before halftime and let the Bulls come back at us - In the 2nd half they were just too strong and another loss ensued.

Wakefield 4 Castleford 32

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

A much needed victory for Cas and although listening to the commentators on TV they made it sound as though neither side were really up to much, I thought that we played some good inventive, attacking rugby and got some bad breaks in the game and could have run out even larger victors.

So it's 2 points in the bag - We have to beat a top side this season at some point and so I hope we can turn over the Bulls next week.

Castleford 32 St Helens 46

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Another loss for the Tigers in a highly exciting match - Danny Orr scoring his first Cas Hat-Trick (on the day he announced he was leaving the club at the end of the season)

So, I've said it before but we need to beat a few of the higher placed teams - We've only managed to beat Wigan so far in the 1st game of the season and that is why we are now down in joint 6th with 2 other teams - Remember, we have the harder fixtures to come whilst London and Warrington don't. It'll be a close call to make the playoffs now but we need to get back on the right track with a victory at Wakefield on Saturday.

Castleford 38 Halifax 12

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Our first victory in 5 and although it wasn't pretty for 50 minutes or so, The Tigers came out deservedly on top in the end. Once we got a couple of try's ahead, we settled down and played some good rugby but we need to do this from the start if we are to try and make the top 6.

Friday against St Helens is a very, very, very big game for the team - A loss at this stage will mean that the tigers are likely to be fighting it out for 6th sport with London and a host of other sides with the top 5 having a bit of breathing space. With London also going very well and having 2 games in hand, we can't afford to drop any more points at the moment.

Wigan 24 Castleford 10

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Another defeat for The Tigers but still not too disappointing as we are still playing fairly well - 4 defeats in a row means we are now in 7th place but hopefully, we will be able to make the top 6 come the end of the season.

Hull 22 Castleford 14

Castleford 16 London 28

The match reports can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

2 roundup in one here - I've been busy all week decorating the house and trying to put 27 pieces of Ikea furniture together - I've more bloody boxes in the garden now than I have stuff in the house - I'll buy everything ready made next time!!!

Anyway, enough about me, you came to hear my opinion on the 2 defeats.

London was a bit of a disaster, but only for 10 minutes when we let them run away with the game - Attacking wise, we were awful and this let us down more than anything - We should have and could have got more points on the board and this would have negated their comeback at the end of the game - Still, not too disappointed as it was a good game to watch.

Last nights match against Hull was very pleasing despite the loss - We played to our strengths BUT, we did make far too many errors  when in possession. We could have (and should have) won it at the end but Mellor couldn't find Pryce for the try - Looking at the reply, he maybe should have backed himself and gone for the line - We'll never know now if he would have made it.

Danny Orr now seems back to his best and had a belter yesterday.

We now need to beat the Warriors next Friday to get us back on track - A couple more defeats would see us starting to teeter on the edge of 6th/7th place and the team are certainly capable of finishing 4th or 5th.

So, in summary, although 3 defeats in a row, there are lots of things to be positive about - We are playing okay at the moment and are giving value for money.

That's it for now - I'm off to put some more furniture together!!!

Leeds 39 Castleford 26

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

We lost but once again played very well against (and I hate to say this) a very strong Leeds team this season.

We actually had the luck with us today as well as a few decisions seemed to go our way.

Unfortunately, we couldn't quite keep up with the Rhinos and they were worthy winners in the end (did I really just type that!!!???)

BUT, even though we lost, the signs for the team are very encouraging and I don't have any complaints about how things are progressing at Cas at the moment.

The Broncos are in town next week and they have beaten most of the top teams away from home this season so we'll have to be careful not to have the same fate happen to us.

Castleford 32  Huddersfield 18

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

I missed the match tonight due to having to work until 10pm but from all accounts, it was another good performance.

In the last 3 weeks, we've now beaten teams that we should be beating consistently - Lets see if we can turn over Leeds at Headingley on Saturday - That would be very, very nice.

4th Place in the table - I'd have taken that at the start of the season.

Warrington 16 Castleford 32

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

We played quite well again today - A few decisions went our way for a change and everyone wanted to play once again for the full 80 minutes - Including Deano who made a return to the side with a try!!!

Similar game to last weeks really with the early going pretty tough up the middle type rugby but then a bit more expansive as the game developed.

We now look much better in attack and I'm no longer thinking that we won't score when we get inside the 20 metre line like I was earlier in the season.

Lets make it 3 in a row now on Friday night against the Giants followed by a 4th against the Whinos!!!

Castleford 40 Widnes 2

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

2 weeks ago I said we were rubbish - Today I say we were very good. Admittedly, Widnes played very poorly but we played for the full 80 minutes and made a lot of good breaks and strung a lot of good passing moves together and backed up well. It's the best performance of the season going forward and attacking.

We had a lot of youngsters in and Tom Saxton especially played well at full back. Andy Lynch also had a good match making good yards and having an all round good game.

It'll be interesting to see whether Steadman keeps faith with this side or if he will go back to the other players once the injury situation clears.

Bradford 30 Castleford 10

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Castleford 26 Hull 26

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Before I start, I need to say that "WE WERE RUBBISH AND DID NOT DESERVE A POINT FROM THIS GAME".

Okay - I've got that off my chest - Those was my feelings until the last 10 minutes when we scored 3 converted tries to steal a point from Hull.

Once again, we looked poor in attack but today, we also looked poor in defence. Hopefully, this was due to the quality of the opposition as Hull did look like a good side.

Anyway, the players stuck in there and Hull went to sleep (gifting us 1 of the 3 late tries)

Having now also watched the game on video from Sky, even Steadman looked as though he couldn't believe our luck at the end - He certainly wasn't celebrating and I bet he'll be giving the players a bit of a hard time in training over the next few days to try and improve things - Mind you, he won't be as harsh with them as McRea will be with the Hull players!!!

Lets see if we can improve for next week against Bradford.

Huddersfield 16 Castleford 29

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

I couldn't get to the game but listened to it on the radio.

It was a hard fought, close affair until the last 10 minutes when Cas just showed their superiority.

With a few players out injured, the Tigers dug their heels in against a Giants side that has shown so far this season that they can spring the odd surprise against the big teams. Fortunately, Cas didn't roll over for them and came away with a good and much needed victory.

Castleford 14 Leeds 15

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Pipped by a last minute missed penalty from Danny Orr - Although it "lost" us the game, no blame can be placed on him for missing it.

The Tigers played well in the 1st half, dominating for the first 30 minutes but once again only scoring 1 try (in the whole match).

With this is mind, it's no wonder that Leeds got the win having scored 3 of their own. Saying that though, our defence did play well and although our attack was once again very poor and very rarely looked like breaking over the Leeds try line, we did play to our strengths and to Leeds' weaknesses by driving the ball in hard up the middle. Leeds were coming off a very tough semi-final extra time win just 5 days previously and I thought that our tactics were excellent.

So, I have mixed feelings about the game - I never like to lose to Leeds BUT, I do feel that although we didn't have anyone who played outstanding rugby, everyone put in a great deal of effort and tried their best for the team tonight.

And to be honest, I can't ask for any more than that. I don't mind spending my £12 when I feel they are trying like they were tonight.

Lets hope for more of the same but a better result on Mondays against The Giants.

I have been asked to advertise the above image by David Smart.

It concerns the application for funding for a new stadium development from Yorkshire Forward.

The destiny of the club is in our hands. As supporters we can show our support for the project by  attending the Yorkshire Forward Community drop-in workshops in a large marquee in Pontefract  Park.

These will take place on Friday 11th April between 9am and 7pm and Saturday 12th April between 9am and 2.30pm Yorkshire Forward Community drop-in workshops in a large marquee in Pontefract Park.

For the clubs bid to be successful we need to be seen in great numbers at these events and wearing the club colours would make us a very visible presence at these events.

This is our future - We need to support it now or the chance may pass us by.

London 12 Castleford 24

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

A good away win for the lads this week after a disappointing previous 2 results.

Just what we needed to take us into the local derby in 2 weeks time against the Rhinos.

From what I have heard, we started off poor but improved in the 2nd half although London threw away some good chances. Anyway, although we still do need to improve, we have got back on the right track again with 2 much needed points

Castleford 14 Wakefield 20

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

What a difference 3 weeks make - Only 2 games ago we were world beaters and now we look like also-rans who will be struggling to make the top 6!!!

I'm still quite angry about last nights performance so I think you can all make your own minds up about it from the Official Message Board and other fans comments.

The only thing that I do have to say is this :

If our forwards run sideways rather than forward and not at any pace, we will be in for a long season - We have had very little attacking options for ALL 4 league games so far.

St Helens 54 Castleford 12

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

It didn't go quite as planned!!!

Cas had a 10:0 lead early on but still only managed to score one try the whole of the game.

It wasn't quite as bad as the scoreline suggests though - Any team in the world would have struggled to beat Saints tonight.

So, all is not lost - In fact I'm still very positive about the season BUT, tonight we witnessed what we have must do if we are to compete with the big boys.

So, with a week off due to the cup, what's happening at The Jungle ?

Well, the Tigers are trying again to get a new stadium - this time through some project money that's nothing to do with Wakefield Council, so it may actually succeed. I'm all for the new stadium just so long as :

1. It doesn't have a running track round it!!!.

2. It is built with Rugby in mind first and foremost with consideration for other events afterwards.

So , what else has been happening :

 Dean Sampson has now got his book out.

Watched Widnes nearly beat the Bulls yesterday in the QF's of the cup.

I think that's about it - All being well, we'll beat the Saints on Friday - Guess who has to work until 9pm!!! Damn - I hope I know how to set the video correctly :-)

Halifax 10 Castleford 20

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

The Tigers are currently sitting proud at the top of the Superleague table with 2 wins out of 2!!! Must be the first time for a good few years that this has been the Cas :-)

The game itself was a bit disappointing - The first half performance was pretty poor with Cas not able to get any sort of momentum, giving away silly penalties and missing tackles (Lennon was dreadful).

Luckily, this improved in the second half and Cas dominated - very few missed tackles and powerful forward type rugby - When they did try to get the ball out wide, it still ended in mistakes - Maybe the fans in the away end were too critical because we were not aware that it was pouring it down until we came out of the stand for full time.

Jamie Thackray once again had a good game and Michael Smith also played well although more forward running rather than sideways would be a bonus (but at least we could all see he was looking for a gap and then trying to offload in the tackle.

So, no a great performance BUT, it is 2 points and the team seemed confident in their ability to win, even when they were behind - Plus, a Barmy Army chant for the whole of the 2nd half.

Bring on the Saints in 2 weeks time :-)

Castleford 36 Leigh 12

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Only 1000 or so fans turned up for this game - not surprising really as the club didn't really hype it - It sounds as though it was good experience for some of the younger players though and once again the team performed well.

It should put them in a good frame of mind (and form) for the Halifax match on Friday night

Updated the Stats  page

Castleford 19 Wigan 10

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

What a difference 2 weeks make - We didn't look anything special against Wakefield a fortnight ago but today we looked to have class in every position.

 Jamie Thackray had a great game in my opinion as did Dale Fritz in the tackling dept. and most of the team played really well. Danny Orr looked back to his best and he was bossing the show.

I don't know when the last time was that Wigan were held try less, but I bet it was many years ago - someone prove me wrong then :-) !!!

The game was 6:4 to Cas at half time with a Rogers try edging us ahead past Wigan's 2 penalty goals (and another one that was missed)

The 2nd half saw Wigan draw level and then go ahead with 2 more kicks only for The Tigers to get a penalty of their own followed by an Orr drop goal to give us the lead. The Warriors then kicked yet another goal - at this point, I thought I was watching Orrell rather than Wigan with all the kicks and I also thought the referee was a Wa***r !!! :-)

But with 5 minutes to go, the Tigers managed to get the ball free 2 yards out in the tackle to send Rogers in for his 2nd try of the game and the conversion meant we were 5 point clear.

Time to stick the ball up our jumpers and time for Wigan to put their elbows into our heads!!! Johnson getting a straight red card for his hot headedness. With just seconds left on the clock, the ball was passed inside to Pryce who curled up into a ball and dived over 2 Wigan players to get the clinching try.

So, I was feeling mid way through the 2nd half that we would win but that things DID look good for the season. Nothing has changed my mind except that we also picked up 2 vital points in the process. I hope that we can continue to put in effort like that every week and don't stumble along the way to teams such as Halifax and Huddersfield.

A big crowd of 8500 will also help the club in revenue and to be fair to Wigan, they did bring a lot of fans with them.

Even the new scoreboard was better than I had heard. It may not be the best in modern technology but it is easily visible and fits in with The Jungle theme. Anyway, as long as it says Cas have more points than the opposition, then I'm happy :-)

Next week is a friendly against Leigh followed by a Friday game against Halifax at The Shay - Lets see if we can win 2 in a row :-)

Just updated the SCREENSAVERS page with a new one for this season - Please download and enjoy - Any problems, let me know :-)

Ryan Hudson has been banned for 1 game for his sending off at Trinity last Saturday

New update to the player profile page including new photos (from official site) and bio's

Wakefield 20 Castleford 18

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Mmmmmmm - Not quite sure what to make of our early cup exit - Great start with Lennon's try in the opening minute but that was it for the first half - Defence was okay but then not properly tested by a Wakefield side that looked as rusty as ourselves. We showed sporadic patches of quality rugby but they were few and far between.

Probably because Ryan Hudson got send off midway through the 1st period for a punch when there was really no need - As Steadman pointed out in an after match interview, Hudson let the whole team down and made it very difficult for them to get a win. Lets hope that his temper doesn't turn into the Dean Sampson kind and he starts hurting us when there isn't any need for it.

We should have gone in at the half with a lead but 6-6 shows that we made too many mistakes.

The second half wasn't much better - we had a few spells where we were well on top but couldn't convert pressure (albeit not sustained) into points. From where I was stood, a couple of bad decisions also went against us BUT, we let ourselves down rather than it being the fault of the referee.

It was a game that either side could have won and it swung back and forth a few times in the last quarter - Unfortunately, Wakefield managed to convert their chances into points to gain the win.

So, that leaves us out of the cup (not a massive disaster) and a spare week next weekend - After that, it's Wigan at home and a lot of improvement needs to be made by everyone.

Getting a bit excited now for Saturday's cup tie against the Wildcats - It's always a good atmosphere at "Stad De Belle Vue"!!! and with the TV cameras in place and a lot of Cas support, it should be a great way to kick off the season proper.

Updated the player profile page for the coming season

Finally sorted out and updated the POSTCARDS page within the INTERACTIVE section - I've had to use a new supplier - They look okay and I will be adding more photos to send throughout the season. Have a go and let me know if you like it or not - Cheers - Mark

Cas have been drawn away to Wakefield in the Challenge Cup - Not the easiest of draws but not the hardest either, although Wakefield fans are expecting a good season this time round - We will see :-)

Castleford 14 Bradford 44

The match report can be found in the game time section by clicking on game reports

Not a good way to start the season (You can't count the Leeds match as we didn't play a full team)

Mind you, we hopefully were just getting some of the rust out of the system and will be a lot better when it's time to play for real. That said, it was Bradford's 1st game of the season and they didn't look too poor.

I'm sure we'll come good for the start of the comp proper.

I don't want to be a doom and gloom merchant but I recently asked GMB for some freebies that I could give away with competitions.

They said that it was "early days yet" and that the sponsorship package was "a fairly basic one, which is really aimed at marketing GMB on the shirts".

With these comments, it would seem that GMB's involvement is only going to be paying the cash to receive the publicity from the shirts. Hopefully, more will come in time and the club will be able to benefit in other ways from further involvement such as the free(ish) trip to London that Jungle.com did and stuff like the free paws, halftime competitions to win computers etc.

We will see.................

I've updated the site at last - Had too much of a good thing going with the beer over Christmas to really be bothered about the site!!!  Anyway, hopefully I will update a bit more often now that news will be more frequent from the club as the season approaches

Finally the new kit and new signings have been unveiled!!!

Left to Right are; PAUL MELLOR, DAMIAN
GIBSON, JERRY NELSON (REGIONAL SECRETARY GMB), FRANCIS MALONEY, PAUL
JACKSON, JAMIE THACKRAY.

New sponsors for the season taking over from Jungle.com are the GMB Union

 

who join the Tigers on a 12 month deal with an option to extend the contract if all goes well

All the old news previously on this page can be found in THE TIGERS ARCHIVE