Daryl Powell says Castleford are ready to take on Israel Folau.
Catalans have named the Australian in their 21-man squad and confirmed he will debut ahead of the Tigers’ visit to Perpignan on Saturday.
Folau hasn’t played the 13-man game for a decade and only linked up with the Dragons last week.
But Powell admitted he expects the 31-year-old to play and has watched footage of Folau in preparation of the game.
“We’ve got to try and make him rusty,” Powell said.
“He’s a big, athletic player and he’s similar to Sonny Bill Williams in that there’s a bit of an unknown there.
“We’ve watched a lot of footage of him and we’re aware of that right-foot step of his, which is really dominant.
“I think he will play. There’s a bit of an unknown there with him but our plans aren’t going to change too much; we think we know the way he’s going to play. We’re not specifically putting him under pressure, but we have looked at him and how him coming in will impact them.
“We’ve got some smart centres and it’ll be interesting to see what they throw up out on the edges. We’ve had a look at him and Catalans in their one game so far, and they haven’t got into a groove so it’s hard to work them out. He hasn’t played rugby league for 10 years so we want to see if he’s still any good at it.”