The Castleford coach, Daryl Powell, was behind the greatest season in the club’s recent history 12 months ago, yet he believes they stand on the brink of something even more impressive in 2015.
After securing a top-four finish and a place in the Challenge Cup final then, Powell has now targeted five wins from their seven Super 8s games to again make the top four and the Super League play-offs, with the 50-year-old stating that to do so would surpass their incredible campaign last year – especially as Castleford lost their first three games of this season.
“I think it would top it, especially with what happened early on this year,” he said. “Last year we had plenty of momentum based around the run to the final of the Challenge Cup, and we picked up some key results where we had to hang on.
“This is a whole new ball game this year, and we’ve shown we can compete with the best teams and if we get in the top four it’ll be richly deserved. It’s going to be dictated by other teams and what they do performance-wise, but I think something like five wins from seven gets us in. But the strength of the competition is so great that if we did it then I think it’d beat last year.”
Castleford begin their Super 8s campaign against Hull FC on Friday night after concluding the first part of the season two points adrift of the all-important top four, but despite a 44-6 defeat to Warrington two weeks ago, Powell insists his side can go into the next phase of the season with optimism. “We’ve put ourselves in a good spot, the boys have had a week off and hopefully we’ll come out of it ready to go into the unknown.
“We were disappointed with how we went about our business against Warrington – they played well but we were terrible. But we came in last week and set down some non-negotiables for the next part of the season, and I think we can move forward with confidence. We can’t worry about the past because we’ve got an exciting future ahead of us in the Super 8s. Getting in the top four again for the second year in a row would be an enormous achievement for this club.”
The Warrington coach, Tony Smith, has backed his high-profile import Chris Sandow to be a hit in Super League as he prepares for his debut on Friday. Warrington travel to the table-toppers Leeds, but Smith thinks the eccentric playmaker will suit the style of play in the English game.
“He needed no persuading to come,” Smith said. “The time was right for him and his style suits Super League. He’ll be a real success and I know it won’t be easy from the word go because it’s a tough ask to ask someone to play their best straight away, but he’s an instinctive player who likes to have the ball in his hand and kick it and that’s what we need in our team. The players have had a lift from him in training already.
“I do think there’s much more of a focus on attack in this country than defence, and he’s certainly an attacking player. I think he does suit the style here more and his creativity will be appreciated more here, certainly. He’s excited about the prospect of pulling the shirt on for the first time –and so am I.”
