Playing on the wing for Castleford is a great job!
Justin Carney, Denny Solomona, Greg Eden, Greg Minikin and Joel Monaghan. They don’t have a lot in common admittedly – that is quite the mix of characters – but they do share one thing. They’ve all benefitted from Castleford’s free-flowing style of rugby under Daryl Powell. There are more, of course, but Monaghan created the headlines on Friday night when he crossed for a hat-trick. Isn’t playing on the wing for Castleford a dream job at the minute? It must be great..
Kallum Watkins is near-untouchable in this form
Brian McDermott said it perfectly post-match, calling Kallum Watkins a “joy to watch” when he is playing like this. He’s not wrong; the England international remains one of the most imposing outside backs in world rugby on his day, and Friday’s win against Wigan certainly was his day. The second-half try he took was typical Watkins: robust, pacey, strong and simply magnificent. An honourable mention to the pass from Danny McGuire – it was inch-perfect – to lay the try on, though.
NRL clubs will like what they see in George Williams on Friday night
It felt like the real headline in the interviews George Williams gave in the run-up to Friday’s game with Leeds was that NRL clubs are monitoring his situation. Williams was quick to point out there have been no offers – as there won’t be, given how he’s under contract for another 18 months. But the interest will only intensify you feel if he keeps performing like he did on Friday – with two brilliant individual tries.
Are Huddersfield increasingly bottom-four probables?
It’s unfair to chalk anyone’s name out of the race for the top eight on the first day of April: even winless duo Warrington and Widnes. However, Huddersfield’s woes continued on Friday when they slumped to a heavy defeat against Castleford and on the face of it, it’s easy to worry for Rick Stone’s side. There’s still a long way to go but, if you are drawing up candidates for the Qualifiers, Huddersfield’s name may be right in the mix.
The quality of Super League is much higher in 2017
Leeds v Wigan was a wonderful advert for the sport on Friday night – and it was indicative of the standard that has been displayed across the board for most of this year. The first season of the Super 8s was enthralling and memorable, but last year, not so much. However, hopes are high from the first two months of the season that with high-quality, free-flowing attacking rugby and much more, we could be in for a year to remember.
