If there is one lesson to be learned from the opening weekend of Super League each and every year, it is that you would be a fool to read anything into the results of the first batch of games.
Castleford Tigers are a perfect example of that; they lost their first three games last season but finished fifth come the season’s end, illustrating that in rugby league, how you start is generally not the be all and end all.
Both Castleford and opponents Hull KR will take solace from that after round one of this season therefore, because their respective performances did nothing to warm their fans up on a bitterly cold afternoon on Humberside.
Handling errors and uninspiring defending somehow bizarrely contributed to an exciting conclusion, with neither side able to put the other to bed throughout. Castleford, leading 16-10 with little over a minute left on the clock, will undoubtedly feel like this was a point dropped rather than one gained, but they did at least show brief glimpses of the play that cemented them among Super League’s elite 12 months ago.
Why they decided to turn down an opportunity to kill off Hull KR late on and kick a drop goal is anyone’s guess, though. That left the door ajar for Rovers to strike, and they duly obliged when the wing Josh Mantellato scored acrobatically in the corner for a second time, with his subsequent conversion from the touchline after the hooter scrambling a point for the hosts.
“We were just dumb if I’m being honest,” said the Castleford coach, Daryl Powell. “We had that game won; it was tight all the way through, we worked hard but a couple of brain explosions from some players really hurt us. We kept gifting them the ball and they were finally able to take advantage right in the corner.”
Hull KR’s guest of honour for the game was the Erasure frontman, Andy Bell; he and the club have formed a relationship after the KR fans adopted the band’s big hit, A Little Respect, in recent years on the terraces – but in his first visit to the club, he must have wondered what he had let himself in for at times in a remarkably low-quality affair, but the dramatic finish was at least something for him to enjoy.
“We’ve been questioned in pre-season and I thought that was a perfect response,” said the Hull KR coach Chris Chester. “We were very resilient and very tough, and I thought we were unlucky not to get the two points.”
In driving rain and tornadoesque wind during the first half, there were predictably few attacking plays to marvel at, but Castleford did break the deadlock when the winger Denny Solomona raced away unchallenged after a smart pass from Luke Gale.
Hull KR hit back right on half-time when the forward James Donaldson charged his way over – but the interval failed to produce a change in attacking fortunes for either side.
Castleford had lost their captain, Michael Shenton, to a serious-looking knee injury midway through the first half, and his replacement, Jake Webster, crossed for the first of two tries nine minutes after the break, before Mantellato produced his first exceptional finish in the corner soon after.
He missed the conversion though – as did Gale when Webster scored the try of the game, grounding after a magnificent mid-air take from Solomona set the centre up. Cas turned down the drop goal on numerous occasions though, leaving Mantellato the chance to secure a point for his side from the touchline after another sensational finish – and this time, he did not miss.
Hull KR Cockayne; Sio, Minns, Thornley, Mantellato; Blair, Kelly; Tilse, Lawler, Allgood, Horne, Clarkson, Greenwood. Interchange Mulhern, Donaldson, Green, Boudebza.
Tries Donaldson, Mantellato 2. Goals Mantellato 2.
Castleford Dorn; Monaghan, Crooks, Shenton, Solomona; Roberts, Gale; Millington, McShane, Cook, Holmes, McMeeken, Jewitt. Interchange Boyle, Milner, Moors, Webster.
Tries Solomona, Webster 2. Goals Gale 2.
Referee R Silverwood (Mirfield). Attendance 11,011.
