Daryl Powell has challenged his Castleford side to secure a home semi-final after the Tigers completed their Super League regular season with an emphatic 52-24 victory at Widnes.
This time last year Castleford already had one hand on the League Leader’s Shield – yet while they have gone about their business in a less explosive manner this summer they are handily placed for what lies ahead, finishing the regular season in third.
“To finish third with everything that’s happened to us injury-wise is an outstanding effort from us,” the Castleford coach said. “I’m really pleased, we get a breather now due to being out of the cup, but then it’s into the Super 8s. The target is clear: we want a home semi-final.”
The bigger games are still to come for both sides after the Challenge Cup break – and with one competing for a Grand Final place and the other battling relegation in the Qualifiers, the camps displayed contrasting moods by full time.
Castleford were magnificent in patches, including the seven-minute period in which they scored four tries to turn a six-point deficit into a 16-point advantage which, given how brittle Widnes are at present, was always likely to be enough.
For Widnes, their record 16th consecutive league defeat raises serious concern that they may not navigate safe passage through the Qualifiers.
This is widely regarded as the most competitive Qualifiers in history given the strength of the four Championship sides – Toronto, Toulouse, London and Halifax – aiming for promotion. Halifax secured their place with 38-6 victory against Rochdale in the final round of the Championship regular season, while the Broncos dispatched Barrow 72-6 at Craven Park to finish second and earn an extra home game in the Qualifiers.
The top three following seven rounds are automatically in Super League; fourth and fifth will square off in the Million Pound Game – and results elsewhere mean Widnes face lengthy trips to Toronto and Toulouse.
Their coach, Francis Cummins, was defiant post-match here. “We were always going to get things dictated to us because of our league position,” he said. “What we have to do is go to those places and win. Other teams have gone there and won, so why can’t we?”
In patches, Widnes do look like a side who could compete in those games, but too often they are masters of their own downfall. Here they led early on thanks to tries from Patrick Ah Van and Rhys Hanbury, but their afternoon quickly unravelled.
Tries for Greg Eden – who finished the match with a hat-trick – Jake Trueman and two for Quentin Laulu‑Togaga’e turned the game on its head before half-time. “There was some outstanding rugby played there,” Powell said of that spell.
Any lingering doubts over the result were ended when Oliver Holmes and Mitch Clark crossed in the first 10 minutes after half-time, and thereafter the final half-hour was somewhat of a stroll.
With the result secure Castleford could afford to take their foot off the gas, a luxury they will not be afforded in the Super 8s. Cummins was right in pointing out that Widnes will not face a side of Castleford’s quality in the Qualifiers – but even so it is clear that the Vikings face a testing two months ahead.
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