CASTLEFORD TIGERS head coach Craig Lingard has referenced his side’s 14-14 draw with the London Broncos as a “typical pre-season friendly”.
The Tigers led 14-6 at half-time after tries from Sam Wood and an Innes Senior double, but they failed to score a point in the second-half as London were full value for a draw.
Castleford conceded ten penalties during the 80 minutes and Lingard knows that discipline has to improve.
“It was a typical pre-season friendly, very scrappy with a lot of errors which was disappointing,” Lingard told League Express.
“We didn’t control the ball in the second-half and then compounded an error with a penalty. There were lots of lessons to learn.
“It’s something we need to make sure we focus on because a lot of those penalties came on the back of us not completing the set as well.
“We needed to restrict the metres from the opposing team and we didn’t really get into that cycle of the game today where we had to go set-for-set with them.”
The Tigers saw three men leave the field early, with George Griffin, Rowan Milnes and Joe Westerman all suffering knocks.
“Joe Westerman’s back tightened up a little bit, but I can’t see it being anything major. We brought him off as a precaution but it doesn’t look like a massive issue.
“George Griffin had a HIA, he will go through the protocol but he did seem alright. I spoke with him and he seems fine.
“Rowan injured his shoulder and he will have to get that looked at with a scan. Our initial thoughts were that he might have dislocated it and it popped back in but we’re not sure.”
The Tigers were also cut down to 12 men at one stage in the second-half when Liam Horne hit Josh Rourke round the head as the latter was falling.
Lingard feels that it will be looked at by the disciplinary.
“It’s one of them, it’s a difficult one. He has the responsibility not to make contact with a defender’s head but the defender was very close to the floor.
“It’s one of those that will be contentious if you get it for your side you will be happy, but if it goes against you, you will be disappointed.
“But there is an emphasis this year on the defending player having a responsibility not to make contact with the defender’s head regardless of where it is.
“I think it will be looked at (by the Disciplinary Match Review Panel). That’s where we are at this year and that’s what we are going to be looking at whether we like it or not.
“We need to get used to it and manage it effectively throughout the year.”
When asked about potential positives taken from the draw, Lingard was honest.
“It’s difficult in a game like that to choose a standout but Innes Senior took his tries well. It’s difficult looking anywhere else.
“There are positives there, we showed glimpses at times that we were cohesive but when you get a lot of rotation, the cohesiveness drops a little bit.
“It’s always good to learn the lessons in pre-season friendlies instead of games. You use pre-season friendlies to find out where you are but you need to make sure you learn the lessons.
“There’s no point identifying them and not learning from them. We are a new group playing together with new connections.”
The Castleford boss revealed that three players will return for the next friendly clash against Huddersfield Giants in a fortnight’s time.
“We didn’t have Liam Watts, Muizz Mustapha and George Lawler playing out there today.
“They played against Keighley, they had no injury concerns but we imagine they will play next week.”
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