TWO different leagues, two different experiences for Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.
Whilst the Tigers sit second bottom in Super League, Rovers occupy top spot in the Championship with Sean Long’s men bolstered by the arrival of prop Daniel Smith from Castleford on a two-week loan deal.
Smith played for Featherstone in their nailbiting 28-20 win over Sheffield Eagles at the weekend, with the forward admitting that it was good to get some game time – although he currently isn’t looking past the next two weeks.
“It was good to get some minutes, I’m obviously not getting played at Cas, so it’s decent coming here to a good team like Featherstone. I’m happy,” Smith told League Express.
“I’m not too sure (what happens beyond the two-week loan), I’m not really looking past the two weeks. I will take it as it comes, it’s out of my hands so I will turn up here and play as well as I can and hopefully it will all get sorted out.”
Castleford are facing a tough, uphill battle in Super League, but Smith just wants to focus on playing well and respects Castleford boss Andy Last’s decision to send him on loan.
“I respect Lasty’s (Andy Last) decision. Lasty has made his decision and I’ve got to get some game time, so why not come here and play for a good team like Featherstone? They are top of the league.
“I don’t know what’s going on, all I can do is keep playing well and just take care of what I can do and all the other stuff will sort itself out.”
Working under Sean Long at Rovers does excite Smith, especially with his attacking philosophy.
“He’s a good, smart coach and his career speaks for itself. He was a smart halfback and one of the best in the game.
“It’s good to work under him. I like attacking and he has shown me a few clips of where I can get better and hopefully he can help me.”
Smith started at loose-forward for Featherstone in their 28-20 win over Sheffield and the 30-year-old admitted the game – which saw four yellow cards brandished – was “mad”.
“It was a mad game! We made it so hard for ourselves making so many errors. The first 15 minutes they didn’t touch the ball really and then we just switched off to let them back into it.”