There were wild celebrations here as Castleford secured sixth spot before the Super 8s after they ran in 30 unanswered points in the final 23 minutes to move above Wakefield. It took them to within seven points of the top four with 14 left to play for in 2016.
For the best part of an hour Wakefield were arguably the better side and despite losing to their bitterest rivals, they at least have the compensation of knowing that their best may be yet to come in 2016. On Saturday they face Warrington in a Challenge Cup semi-final at Leigh and it was impossible not to imagine they had one eye on that here.
That Castleford eventually prevailed was tribute to the unity and toughness for which they have become renowned under their coach, Daryl Powell, particularly given an injury list which had robbed them of six of their regular starting backline seven. Luckily for Castleford the one fit member of their usual backline was the captain, Luke Gale. Speculation is rife in Australia that Wayne Bennett will approach a number of Australian-born half-backs to play for England this year, taking advantage of the flimsy rules at international level – but in Gale he has an English-born half-back ready and willing to make the step up.
Gale was outstanding and the chief architect of Wakefield’s downfall in the final half hour as the Tigers kept their slender top-four hopes alive.
“We had 14 players out injured again today, so to finish sixth is an incredible achievement,” Powell said. “To be where we are with the problems we’ve had after 23 rounds is amazing. I’m really proud of the players. We were a bit helter-skelter at times but it was really pleasing how we grabbed the game in the second half. Luke had real control on the game throughout and we will reap the rewards of the tough times now in the coming years.”
The injury situation was almost as bleak for Wakefield going into this match and three more injuries here left them playing with one interchange in the final 35 minutes, which went a long way to explaining why Castleford were able to pull away so strongly in the latter stages.
Defeat should not overshadow a season that has exceeded all expectations for Trinity, who will be satisfied with their top-eight finish, even if they are at the back of the quartet of sides chasing St Helens in fourth.
But the Wakefield coach, Chris Chester, will be nervously monitoring his team’s treatment room over the next few days. “I’m not overly disappointed because there was bags of effort out there, we just ran out of troops,” he said. “We lost three guys today, had one fit body on the bench for most of the second half, and it hurt us.”
Turning to the match, Chester pointed to a moment just after the hour as being crucial. With Castleford two points ahead, Liam Finn – who had been excellent up to that point – failed to find touch with a penalty and that led to a try by Junior Moors which gave the visitors an eight‑point cushion from which Wakefield never looked likely to recover.
Wakefield had been well in contention until then, with Finn and his half-back partner, Jacob Miller, playing a key role as the Wildcats led 16-10 at half‑time, but a try for the prop Andre Savelio levelled matters for Castleford.
Finn is one of Super League’s finest kickers and when his towering kick was collected by Reece Lyne for a try Wakefield deservedly led 20-16 and looked on course for victory themselves, but fatigue and their injury problems began to cost them dear.
Tries from Gale and Moors put Castleford in control before Greg Minikin, Tom Holmes and Ryan Hampshire – a trio who would not be in Castleford’s strongest 17 – sealed victory for the visitors.
This defeat will sting for Wakefield, but if they can reach a first Challenge Cup final since 1979 by beating the Wolves, it will suddenly mean little in the grand scheme of things. But finding 17 fit players will be, perhaps, their biggest challenge.
Wakefield Jowitt; Lyne, B Tupou, Arundel, Hall; Miller, Finn; Scruton, Sio, Fifita, Walton, Ashurst, Molloy. Interchange Crowther, Arona, Moules, A Tupou.
Tries Miller, Arundel 2, Lyne. Goals Finn 2.
Castleford Hampshire; Flynn, Crooks, Holmes, Minikin; McShane, Gale; Springer, Milner, Patrick, Mariano, Millington, Moors. Interchange Savelio, Holmes, Cook, Maher.
Tries Minikin 2, Holmes 2, Savelio, Gale, Moors, Hampshire. Goals Gale 7.
Referee J Cobb. Attendance 6,855.
