17 as expected with Walker ahead of Golding. But Ablett on the bench with Cuthbertson loose and Garbutt starting prop. Not saying it's wrong for Ablett to be demoted to the bench, I agree (fortunate in fact to make the 17 lately) but a bit surprised. Hopefully a demotion and coming on mid game may see some improvement from him.

I don't think we are a lot better than 2016 I just the competition has degraded significantly. Leeds aren't second because they are so much better than last year and everyone else has stood still.

When have Leeds played in a game they really have to win in 2017 - when you are saying beating Salford is a must win game you really the p1ss. You can always recover from most losses in league. That one game they had to win to materially impact their season they were an embarrassment.

What I think is if Wigan get the final they have a leader in O'Loughlin and they have potentially the best side in the competition. Wigan are the one side I wouldn't want to play in the play off semi final.

Oh give over it's bloody laughable this site.

2015 - we haven't got better everyone has just gone backwards

2016 - other teams have gone forwards whilst we stood still/went backwards

2017 - we haven't got better everyone has just gone backwards

We've still got a lot of room to improve but anybody who thinks we haven't improved a lot since the first half of 2016 needs to give their head a shake and stop being determined to be negative.

The others team in league, again they plenty of room for improvement, but the overall standard isn't really any different from 2016. It hasn't dropped dramatically at all. It's just a weak excuse because Leeds have finished much higher than what many tipped.

Nah i i have to disagree i think we are a whole lot better this year, that said we have not had the degree of key injuries we had to deal with in the first half of last year which left us cast adrift and gone by the time Segeyaro came and our squad was healthy.

I don't think the comp is all that, far from it but i'd be interested to know where you think it has degraded so significantly i mean, wire suffered the same fate as us with a similar squad to last year and Cas have played great rugby and been better than anything seen last year by a distance thus far. Everywhere else it looks pretty similar to be honest.

What are you watching?
Castleford have been great we are second and deservedly so!

Walker
Briscoe Watkins Sutcliffe Hall
Mcguire Lilley
Garbutt Parcell Singleton
JJB Ward
Cuthbertson

Golding Mullally Keinhorst Ablett

Oh dear, looks like another cricket score in the making, like the first game against Cas this season... Hope I'm wrong, but surely the game is gone at 30-6.

That this leeds team are 2nd is a shocking indictment of super league

you aren't allowed to say that. the forum police will have you.

lucky it's not 50 already, and that's not an understatement

No ash golding to blame for this cricket score

Leeds have a habit of picking which games they perform in this year. As frustrating as this is for supporters, at some point in the game I get the impression some of the players have collectively clocked-off because they know that this is a desirable rather than must-win game. I don't think it improves our chances of ever being able to beat Cas this season (shades of Leeds vs Bulls in 2003), but you never know... Saints repeatedly spanked us for years in the regular season but never did it in a GF. Although in those days we had Peacock and Sinfield...

Hope for the season just about clings by a thread...? If we don't make the GF or get spanked in it, it is surely time for Leeds to follow the example of Souths (sorry Printer!).

The thing about tonight is that it's going to make it even more funnier when we win the GF and people start frothing at the mouth about how we don't deserve it

Defence at this level is surely a matter of the players' attitude... Or are Cas simply that good?

We took a pasting or two in the past before the real stuff began and turned it on no reason not to believe we wont after this. Always felt this was going to be a comfortable Cas win.

Regards the coach, i think most of us agree its time for change regardless but thats another debate.

again I agree we can still win the title.its a one off game. however when we've done it before we never had an ageing set of forwards like we have now. too many are leaden footed and unable to handle quick movement of ball and opposition players. i'm not knocking effort, all give it everything, but sadly time has simply caught up with them. we don't have the calming influence of a sinfield type player either. nobody knows how to kill a game to get a breather. it happened in the SF and its happening tonight again.
worryingly we haven't come up with a plan to stop cas either. and it's not as if they do anything new. they have pace and movement all over the field. we, like others, simply can't deal with it

Credit to them for regaining some respectability in the 2nd half. Hull look good to make the GF lots of character arter a very questionable red card.

Wow last time i looked hull were losing 20-6. What an almighty scrap for 4th this next 2 weeks.if salford win,2 points seperate 4 teams with all 4 playing each other on the last day.

Mockers!

Wembley, backing up to play us 5 days later, injuries and suspensions and now playing with 12 men most of tonight. Hull won't have enough left in the tank come playoffs. What they've put in effort wise since Wembley admirable, but it's going to catch up with them.

Had echoes of our game against saints in 2014. The cc still hasn't taken its toll on them. It will now.

Well spank me hard and call me Barbara.....

Cas have become what the Bulls were to us in the late 90's/early 00's. Seems like we now have to suffer obligatory humiliation every time we play them. Have our players developed a mental block where Cas are concerned.
Men and boys at the moment, I'm afraid.

Rope-a-dope....waiting for OT for the ultimate haymaker

Evening Barbara
I'll leave it to Cas to keep handing out the spankings.

They're just better. Simple as that.