CASTLEFORD TIGERS head coach Craig Lingard is determined not to get overconfident following his side’s 20-14 friendly win over Huddersfield Giants.
The Tigers have been written off by all and sundry ahead of the 2024 Super League season, but they showed some great touches as well as defensive steel to beat a Giants side tipped to be in the play-offs.
Lingard spoke about the positive aspect of the result, particularly the improvements from the London Broncos friendly a fortnight ago which Castleford drew 14-14.
“It was really positive. The stuff we focused on from the London game, being difficult to beat – which I thought we were – and managing the conditions – which I thought we did,” Lingard told League Express.
“We all want to score points but sometimes you have to adapt to the conditions, complete your sets and don’t put yourself under pressure too much.
“I thought the first-half was a bit of a throwback with a 0-0 score at half-time but I was really pleased we didn’t try to force it.
“Against London, we would make an error and then concede a penalty so we had to defend our own goal-line.
“So we needed to see if we did make an error how we would respond and I thought our response was really good. It was really positive in the main.
“Just like the London game, we didn’t get too downhearted we aren’t going to get too overconfident because we have won a friendly.”
Lingard has explained what he said at half-time, with the Tigers scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes of the second-half.
“I said that I was pleased. There were a couple of areas where we had five or six minutes in the middle of that first-half where we didn’t complete but we recognised that and got back in the process of completing with decent kicks. The players recognised that themselves.
“I wanted them to keep doing what they were doing attacking wise, particularly close to their goal-line we looked a bit scratchy but with the conditions and pretty much a new squad it will take some getting used to.
“We wanted more clarity in good ball area and we scored some good tries in the second-half. We didn’t panic, attack and defence go hand-in-hand and we earned the chance to attack after defending well.”
Luke Hooley caused havoc in Huddersfield’s defence for most of the game with his towering kick-offs – and Lingard has revealed how much he practices them.
“He works on it all the time in training. We’ve not been on the field at all, we’ve only been on it today and against London but at the end of every session, he does some kicks. He does it particularly on a Saturday morning with the team run.
“He can kick a ball, he kicked a penalty 40-45 metres down the field which might not seem a great deal but if you have a kicker that than can only kick it 10 or 15 metres then you’re not into good ball position.”
Elie El-Zakhem also impressed throughout, with the Lebanese second-rower proving difficult to stop all afternoon.
“Elie definitely impressed. He missed the first friendly with a knee injury so we gave him 40 minutes last week and 70 today. He’s proving to be a real handful and we see it in training what he can do.
“I just thought when he selected when to offload and when not to was important. I thought his pass selection and decision-making were really good and he is a threat. He’s got something about him.”
The likes of Samy Kibula, Albert Vete and Brad Martin didn’t play – and Lingard has revealed that all three were disappointed.
“Those three potentially won’t play the first game. All three were disappointed not to play today but I didn’t want to play too many middles.
“I wanted to get as many minutes into those middles out there as possible. And those six middles out there that played are the first cabs off the ranks in terms of the pack for Wigan unless we get any injuries.”
That being said, Lingard isn’t set on his first-choice 17 yet.
“I’m not set on my 17 yet. There are still a couple of decisions to be made. It’s the bench as well that needs thinking about. You need to make sure you have the right rotation if a back gets injured so we have cover across the board.
“I would imagine we are about 90 percent there after today but we still have a few decisions to make.”
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