I'm not even thinking about winning, I still think that's a bit of a dream, not impossible it never is but on recent history unlikely.

What I'm more interested in is the pattern of the game and the attitude of the players.

Truth is Cas make us look like wally's in a way no other team does. We either lose the entire game in the first ten minutes or we huff and puff only to implode in the last ten minutes. We continually play like schoolboys against them, to use Stevo's pet expression 'we totally lack composure' when playing them.

I don't so much mind the fact that we have not beaten them since 2015 since then they have consistently been a better SL team than us, no doubt about that, though it still stings a bit. However, they have not been 12 games undefeated better than us in that time. We've seen off Saints and numerous other top teams off in that time, Cas are not superhuman, though you'd think they were if you only ever watched them play us.

If on Friday we can just play as well as we did yesterday, ie do the blooming basics right I'll be happy. Probably won't get us a win but at least I won't feel embarrassed.

For the unwary:- If we go for some stupid suicide kick or pass in our own 25 in the first ten minutes we will lose. If we press their line for 60 minutes but fail to score enough points we will lose. If we go thirty down and then stage a come back in the last 20 mins we will lose. Doesn't leave many options but there you go

It's a mental thing with Cas, they're not invincible - Cats did it! The key to a win is in your penultimate sentence 'play as we did yesterday'

As a team, I would have Wire ahead of Cas this season but, as our opening 2 games have showed, it's all about performance on the day.
Having said that, I thought Cas would get past Catalan at the weekend so, there is definitely hope and we are certainly due a win.

Defend as we did yesterday and find a bit more cohesion with ball in hand and we have a chance but, we go expecting nothing and it worked a treat yesterday



Come on Trin !

and improve our kicking game.

Yeah, I noticed a couple of times Hampshire getting a bit of a rollocking from his teammates for his shall we say less than brilliant kicking, to be fair he put his hand up every time, its a part of his game that does need to improve.

Well he has the chance now to do it for a few weeks at least......

There are many parts of Hampshires and Miller's game that I admire but kicking has never been one. I don't actually think Brough is brilliants, he has great games but he has a few stinkers in that department. All the same, he's head and shoulders above the other two IMHO. If he's to take Boroughs spot I'd imagine that is where CC is looking for the biggest improvement, ditto Miller for that matter. Personally I see Hampshire as more of a thread to Miller, as players who he shares a far greater similarity too imo.

We were far from error free against Warrington.
What we did do though was cover each other.
There were a lot of missed tackles on the stats but I don't recall them breaking through because there was always someone else to get stuck in.
Both half backs defended well.

Unfortunately the Cas half backs are capable of making us look silly. We need to be on them. We have the speed to do that.
I do really want Westerman playing but only if he is fit.

Can I also request some new hair styles.
I can't tell Kopi from Westerman or Tanginoa and Tangata when they play is down the other end.
Hampshire and Wood too in poor light.

Wood and Wood are easy to tell apart. A few more gingers please.

Not something that you hear very often but, I'm good with that !
It wont be as hard to pick out the players at Cas, the terracing is nice and close to the pitch and it's not too far to the other end

We went very close last season if I seem to remember! All it needed was a bit of composure from BJB and we’d probably have taken the two points!

The gap has closed over the last couple of seasons though...a couple of seasons they were light years ahead of us...with the Gale, Hardaker, Shenton, Eden combination ripping teams apart and the likes of Millington and Moors causing havoc every week in the middle. They’re not that side anymore...they’re still good, no question about that but I don’t think there’s the fear of playing them like there was that team.

What we must do is play for each other like we did yesterday and get up in their faces...if we can snuff out Austin, Widdop and Clarke like we did there’s no reason we can’t do the same with Trueman, Richardson and McShane. If we stop those three it will go a long way to see us winning...what we can’t do is stand off and give them time and space otherwise they’ll kick us to death.

We’ve got to get the big men running at Richardson too...make him work for the full 80 as that’s definitely his weak side...

If we’ve two or three fully fit forwards I’d bring them in to freshen the pack up with it being a 5 day turnaround and how tough conditions were yesterday...that’s how you succeed these days...use the squad correctly and you’ll cut down on injuries...no other changes need to be made...the back 5 were great yesterday...solid defensively and all made good, hard yards early in the tackle count to help the forwards out and Max was solid at FB...

I go there with hope more than expectation!

That, unfortunately, is where stats fail to tell the full story, that's why there use is limited. Yes, the errors were there but very very few were in places or at times that were ever going to cause us problems. Errors and penalties are only a problem if you concede them at the wrong moment. Penalties can even be a good thing, conceding two points or some metres for a bit of time can change a game in your favour.

That's what was right about yesterday, nearly all the errors were forced, credit to Warrington and only one of the penalties we conceded was what I'd call stupid. Same stats in the same situations against Cas and we are in with a shout, start making silly errors and giving away stupid penalties and we can wave the game goodbye.

As for gingers I have to say there are far less in th game than there used to be but then there are quite a few more 'strawberry blondes'

No silly penalties keep the half backs quiet and get in their faces . I can see a win.

Exactly - it was the polar opposite to the HKR game. Every mistake we made there was just as we were getting a foothold in the game or when they had sent the big kick up from being penned in their own half.

Much better yesterday.

As for Cas, its always a tough trip there and it rare they have a bad game at the Jumble. No reason why we cant win though, keep that level of defensive effort up and get good set completion and its anybodies game.

I always think that Cas play far better at BV and it's at the Jungle where we seem to do better. Don't know the numbers but all the great victories I remember against Cas seem very Jungle orientated, might be wrong.

Yeah theres truth in that - definitely historically, I think its just the games at Cas it seems like no matter what we do lately we cant get the win.

Not the team they were, but still a very dangerous side.

We came close last year, and also in the home fixtures in 2017 and 2018, and it does seem a mental thing, as in both games we were winning for long periods.

The last time we beat them in a competitive game was 2015

We need to get in their faces from the off, and not stand off their danger men. Unfortunately, I feel it is a trait we have done too often in the past, against all sides, not just Castleford

McShane is the man that makes them tic, his decision making and game management are first class, he is tough in defense, gets his forwards on the front foot. His kicking is excellent especially attacking kicks near the line.

I agree. They have a lot of match winners but it all starts with him.

I'm not buying the mental thing, maybe our fans have that affliction but I highly doubt the players have.
Cas is a big game, bigger than Wigan ?, bigger than St's ?, I don't think so, they're all big games one way or another and the players will be approaching each game accordingly.
You could argue the team has a mental hoodoo for big games generally and rationalize that, but a particularly heavy hoodoo for Cas....Nah, they've just been better and luckier when it counts.

It most certainly is a mental thing against Cas. Wasn’t there recently a home game where we were 12 or 16-0 up at half time and they scored something like 28 unanswered points.

Yes, sort of. In 2017, we were 16-0 up at half time, only to throw it away. We did get back in the lead, but they came back again. This was the game when Fififa, went celebrating in front of Cas lot, when he thought he'd won the game, only for it to bite us on the backside

Not a good birthday celebration for me that night

Hopefully he puts things right on Friday.

Was filming with RugbyAM tonight I think.

The Cas bubble against us has got to burst sometime, the law of averages and all that. We've got to look at yesterday's game as a datum point and adopt the same effort and ethos to get that Castleford monkey off our backs. Was the last tome we won there when the floodlight blew up??

No Agar was in charge that night I think.

Think the game against Cas we lost at home when we were 16 points up at half time was lost through a drop goal in the last second ..Can not believe we have not bet Cas since 2015 was that when the lights were on Fire . Know over the last 5 year we have come close but can not get over the line. No pun intended