Castleford Tigers head coach Daryl Powell has led the rallying call for his side the end their mini-blip when they face Salford, insisting their standards have slipped over the last couple of weeks.
Following on from their Tetley’s Challenge Cup victory over Wigan Warriors, the Tigers have suffered two heavy defeats which has seen them beaten by both the Warriors and St Helens. But, with the Red Devils the visitors to Cas on Saturday evening, Powell underlined the importance of getting back to winning ways and keeping up the pressure at the top.
“This is an important game for us; we’ve slipped a little bit when it comes to our standards. It’s a crucial game, and if people aren’t playing well then there’s a selection decision to be made, and that’s what we have to decide on,” Powell said.
“This week it’s important we focus on getting our performance levels right and getting our honest back. We’ve slipped in terms of the efforts over the last couple of weeks – last week was a mile off what we’ve been doing well all year.”
The game marks the first time Rangi Chase has returned to Castleford as a Salford player, after his high-profile move to the AJ Bell Stadium last season. And Powell knows that if the Tigers don’t keep a lid on Chase, he has the potential to turn the game on its head.
“He’s a fantastic player – we all know that because he was here for so long. We need to put pressure on him and not allow him to dictate play at all, because when he does that he’s very difficult to manage. He’s a big part of what they do well, and we need to nullify the threat he poses.
“That Salford defeat was one of our two worst performances in the season; we made over 20 errors and ultimately if you make that amount of errors against anyone you’ll lose the game.”
