Castleford Tigers head coach Daryl Powell insists his side are not concerning themselves over an emotional reunion with former star Rangi Chase this weekend, claiming they are merely focused on their own game.
The unbeaten Tigers head to the AJ Bell Stadium to face a Salford side who have lost their last three – but could welcome back Chase this weekend. That left Powell answering inevitable questions over the possibility of lining up against Chase, but he insists the Tigers are not getting involved with any talk of Chase in particular.
“Apart from having to deal with his ability as a player, emotionally we’re not getting too attached with that kind of stuff. We need to go and play our own game and if there’s some pressure to be applied to Rangi then we’ll do that,” Powell said.
“Obviously he’s a smart player and we know all about him – we’ve seen enough of him in practice to know what he can throw at you. They’ve lost their last three, and they are going to see this as a game they think they can win.”
As well as Chase, there will be another player facing a former club, as Cas loanee Marc Sneyd takes to the field against his parent club, and Powell believes he has proven to be a vital asset in the excellent start Castleford have had.
“They’ve let him go out on loan, I don’t see why they should fear him too much. It was a swap deal and Marc is playing pretty well for us. He’s slotted in to what we are trying to do really well. I expected him to play well, and you can see he’s got some real quiality in his game.
“That left foot of his gives us real balance with our kicking game, and he’s linked up well with Michael Shenton and Justin Carney. They have a lot of ball because of Marc.”
The Tigers will be without Jordan Tansey, after he received a three-game ban for making deliberate contact with an official – a ban Powell and the Castleford club will not be contesting, the Tigers boss confirmed.
“Yeah we’ve accepted the ban. I don’t think he meant to push him as hard as he did; he was almost going back towards him. I can understand that you don’t want people making contact with referees, but I can understand Jordan’s side of it too. It’s unfortunate for him but there’s a little bit of an example there, which is disappointing.
“He wouldn’t have played this week; I don’t think he had his best game last week, and he was off. Luke Dorn would have come back into the side anyway.”
