
Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell claims Saturday’s Challenge Cup tie against Wigan is the biggest game of his tenure so far, as the club gear up to face last year’s double winners in a hugely anticipated game.
With a semi-final berth at stake – not to mention the prospect of dumping last year’s Challenge Cup winners out of the tournament – Powell is under no illusions about the size of the task at hand, admitting his side will have to be at their best to pick up the win.
“We’ve played a lot of games against the better teams since I came to Castleford, but in terms of outcome and what it gets the club with revenue and opportunity it’s the biggest game that I’ve been in charge of,” Powell said.
“It’s great for the fans to have the excitement and anticipation of a great cup tie, but for us it’s about the nuts and bolts and getting our job done. We have to be outstanding to win the game.
“We’ve been the big improvers defensively this year and we’ve got to continue that. And with the ball we’re going to need to challenge them. But we’ve played them twice while I’ve been at the club and we’ve won them both so I’d like to think that we can do it again.
“All the stats show there’s not much between the teams, which is great that we are over half-way into the season and we are talking about our team in such a way. We shouldn’t fear anything. We’re going to go there and look to really challenge them and go after the game.”