Kallum Watkins believes last week’s manic victory over St Helens was ideal preparation for their showdown with Castleford.
Leeds returned to winning ways last week following a crazy, fast-paced game with Saints with a victory that moved them up to ninth in Super League.
Next up are Daryl Powell’s Tigers, who enter the game on the back of three consecutive defeats following a string of key injuries. Despite that, Cas continue to earn praise for their attacking exploits, with the Tigers showing no signs of stopping their expansive style of play.
But given the nature of their victory over St Helens, Watkins feels the Rhinos are suitably drilled for the task ahead of them.
“It was a crazy type of game that was quick and end-to-end, so we had to deal with that,” he said. “We know Cas pass the ball a lot and have players that can exploit a lot of teams. We saw that at the start of the year and the past couple of seasons as well. That makes them very difficult to beat and defend against. Last week was pretty similar in terms of the end-to-end stuff from last week. You’ve got to be willing to save tries under pressure, so we prepared ourselves well last week.
“They’ll have been disappointed with some of their recent results but they’ll certainly be looking forward to this game to try and bounce back from the last few weeks. Playing Cas is always intense and exciting, we always seem to bring the best out of them.
“We’re looking forward to it, it will be a tough battle against a quality side that plays good rugby.”