Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers have named their squads for their pre-season clash at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle on Sunday for the ‘XBlades Prince of Wales Hospice Challenge Trophy’.
Daryl Powell has named a 20 man squad for a game, kicking off at 2.00pm, that will help raise funds for the Prince of Wales Hospice, with a bucket collection taking place at half time.
Tigers CEO Steve Gill said: “The Prince of Wales Hospice is one of the main charities we support year after year, the work they do is truly amazing. They provide such a great facility for our local community and we hope our fans dig deep to give a little to support this fantastic charity.”
Speaking on his squad selection, Tigers head coach Powell said: “The game against Featherstone is a fantastic opportunity for our new players to get a taste of the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for the first time, it’s also an ideal opportunity for our fans to get a good look at the new players and what they are going to bring to the team for 2015. We also have both young and experienced players looking to put a marker down early.
“Featherstone will provide ideal opposition and a flavour of close old rivalries.”
Rovers have announced a provisional 22-man squad, with head coach Andy Hay saying: “The squad will be reduced to 20 on Saturday morning but it’s a strong squad.
“We’ve got a number of players recovering from injury, but everyone who has been selected is raring to go and looking forward to the fixture. Pre-season is a tough period for players both physically and mentally. They’ve been training hard for 6 to 7 weeks looking forward to playing some rugby.
“Hopefully Rovers fans will make the short trip to Castleford and cheer us on. I wish all Rovers supporters a Merry Christmas and hope to see as many of you as possible after the game back in the Cappers Bar for the players Christmas party.”
Castleford squad: 1 Michael Channing, 2 James Clare, 3 Matt Cook, 4 Steve Crossley, 5 Liam Finn, 6 Ashley Gibson, 7 Tom Holmes, 8 Jordan Howden, 9 Will Maher, 10 Nathan Massey, 11 Mike Mcmeeken, 12 Adam Milner, 13 Brandon Moor, 14 Scott Moore, 15 Junior Moors, 16 Ash Robson, 17 Denny Solomona, 18 Jordan Tansey, 19 Brandon Westerman, 20 Scott Wheeldon
Featherstone squad: Kyran Johnson, Ian Hardman, Paul Sykes, Ben Blackmore, Thomas Minns, Jamie Cording, Will Sharp, Jack Coventry, Gareth Moore, Jack Bussey, Sam Irwin, Luke Teasdale, Andy Ellis, Luke Walsmey, Matty James, Mason Tonks, Will Milner, Tommy Newbold, George Merchant, James Lockwood, Alex Foster and Jordan Baldwinson.
A full report and photographs from Sunday’s game will feature in Monday’s issue of Rugby League Express.
