Given how the Super 8s was beginning to look like a non-event several weeks ago, this was arguably the most telling of a string of results over the past fortnight which could yet set up an intriguing second half of the Super League season.
The chasm this year between the top four and the rest has often been as wide as six points, leading many to fear that there would be a worrying amount of essentially meaningless games over the next few months.
However, with this their fourth defeat in a row, Catalans Dragons’ alarming drop‑off in form has brought them closer and closer into view of the quartet behind them before the split.
There have been plenty of occasions this year where the Dragons have looked like genuine contenders for the Super League Grand Final in October, but the past month or so has been more reminiscent of the Catalans side who have so often underachieved in the past – and they were once again way below par here.
In the immediate term, this result appears to have more of a bearing on Catalans than it does for Castleford, who at least killed off any lingering doubts over their participation in the Super 8s with the victory. Yet although it is St Helens who seem to benefit most from this – they are now two points adrift of the fourth-placed Dragons – Castleford are only seven points short of the four with 18 points left to play for this year.
It will take an unlikely run of form to make the semi-finals from this point but if the Tigers perform like they did here for the rest of the season it would be hard to completely rule it out.
“You can never say never about the top four,” said Daryl Powell, the Castleford coach. “It’s a tough ask, of course, but in the eight you’re all playing each other, all taking points off each other and we’ll keep giving it a real go.
“We were a little bit scratchy at times but we’ve got to be happy we’ve been able to get the two points that releases a bit of pressure on us and gives us an opportunity to kick on for the rest of the season.”
With as many as 12 first-team players out injured, it was widely expected Powell would hand a debut to Rangi Chase after he returned last week to his former club on a deal until the end of the season.
Instead, Powell’s biggest talking point was the inclusion of the Wigan loanee Ryan Hampshire, a half-back by trade, on the wing. Hampshire has fallen out of favour at Castleford of late, but with two well-taken tries in the first half here he has undoubtedly played himself in contention for a longer run in the side over the coming weeks.
“I got a text from him this week saying he’d play anywhere he needed to for the team,” Powell said. “I thought it was a great effort from him.” His tries, either side of a Justin Horo score, put Castleford 8-6 in front: a lead they would not surrender for the rest of the game.
Further tries from Frankie Mariano and Paul McShane – the former the pick of the afternoon as the forward raced 40 metres to the line, showing the pace of an outside back – put the hosts 20-6 in front at the break, and that lead rarely looked in trouble throughout the whole of the second half.
Fouad Yaha’s score six minutes after the restart would only restore the deficit back to 14 after Luke Dorn’s try two minutes earlier, and Dorn’s second alongside a superb effort from Oliver Holmes put the Tigers in complete control.
Late tries from Rémi Casty and Julian Bousquet at least added a touch more respectability to the scoreline for the Dragons but their season is now in danger of declining at a rate of knots.
“There’s some obvious concern about our form,” said Laurent Frayssinous, the Catalans coach. “It’s up to me to find a solution because at the moment, we simply can’t win games.”
Castleford Dorn; Hampshire, Crooks, Minikin, Solomona; McShane, Gale; Tickle, Milner, Patrick, Holmes, Moors, Massey. Interchange Millington, Mariano, Cook, Springer.
Tries Hampshire 2, Mariano, McShane, Dorn 2, Holmes. Goals Gale 5.
Catalans Dragons Escaré; Broughton, Gigot, Duport, Yaha; Bosc, Myler; Maria, Da Costa, Casty, Taylor, Horo, Garcia. Interchange Bousquet, Pélissier, Mounis, Navarrete.
Tries Horo, Yaha, Casty, Bousquet. Goals Bosc 4.
Referee M Woodhead (RFL). Attendance 5,886.
