CASTLEFORD SEASON REVIEW: From a roar to a pur

Castleford Tigers 2020 season was without question the club's most disappointing in Daryl Powell's 7 and a half year spell at the club. It was a season that started with much promised but faded terribly.

Castleford made some positive signings for 2020, with Danny Richardson signed to replace Luke Gale and two new wingers in Derrell Olpherts and Sosaia Feki. There was much excitement regarding the Feki signature, which makes it all the more disappointing that persistent injuries meant that he could not complete one game.

Before lockdown, the Tigers were setting the pace. Their opening fixture was against Toronto and a comfortable win gave the new boys a tough start to Super League. A tougher test followed the next week, with a home match against Wigan. Castleford and Wigan were level with two tries each, Danny Richardson's two penalty kicks were enough to separate the teams.

This was the sort of win that Castleford needed to demonstrate their credentials. A hard-fought win against a title contender, earned through patience and defensive grit. Round 3 was a firm bump back down to earth. Unrelated to Castleford, it was a very high profile game, with Israel Folau making an impactful Catalans debut, with the Tigers unable to spoil the party.

Castleford soon recovered, with back to back wins against Wakefield and Hull KR. In their final two weeks before lockdown, they were unfortunate to lose to a last minute drop goal away at Warrington, in a game where Castleford missed several drop goal attempts.

Arguably, the season highlight came the next week. Castleford impressed with a fantastic five try victory against St Helens, in a match where they overwhelmed the eventual champions with a stunning display. A crowd of 7,238 watched Castleford's success. With the increasing spectre of Covid-19, many in attendance suspected this would be the last match they saw in person for a while. I would suggest that far fewer thought that this would be the final match of 2020 before spectators.

Covid-19 changed the world. The mid-season hiatus changed Castleford's world. In March, things were looking rosy. I even thought this may be a year where Castleford could launch a major tilt at the title. From August, the picture was very different.

One win in nine matches said a lot, but not it all. For example, Castleford were pummelled by Catalans in their return match, an early 14-0 lead counting for nothing in the face of shipping 40 points without response.

The next four weeks saw Castleford lose narrowly to St Helens, Wigan and Warrington. Against St Helens, they defended brilliantly and it took St Helens until the final few minutes to score the game's only try to break the match. They only lost by 8 points to Wigan and, cruelly, to a last second Matty Ashton try against Warrington. Castleford's second heartbreaking loss to Warrington that year. Sandwiched in between was a win against Salford.

The fixture planners weren't kind to Castleford upon the restart. With a kinder fixture schedule, a play off challenge could not be ruled out. It wasn't to be. They lost to Huddersfield and Hull FC three times (twice in the league, once in the cup). Their away defeat to Hull FC by 48-6 was one of the worst defeats that Castleford have suffered under Powell.

Speaking of Powell, he was cutting an increasingly frustrated figure. He appeared rattled in the stands and railroaded against referees despite not appearing to suffer from particular blunders (or certainly, no worse blunders than his own team was committing). The injuries were stacking up and you sensed it was a season that just needed to end for the Tigers.

Ironically, after weeks of largely unfounded refereeing complaints, Castleford faced Leeds at Headingley and were the victim of several harsh or incorrect refereeing decisions. Oliver Holmes was dismissed for a petulant kick in the first half. Whilst a yellow card could have been justified, the needless nature of the incident left you with little sympathy for the dismissal.

It was a match that was a summary of Castleford's unfortunate season. This turned out to be the final match of Castleford's season, with a coronavirus outbreak curtailing the final chapter. An unfortunate end to a poor year.

Castleford were showing signs of great promise in the early stages of the year, but coronavirus and injuries contributed to a poor end. 

One positive to take was the mid-season signing of Gareth O'Brien who offered a steady presence at full back. His signing has been made permanent and the competition for the number 1 jersey will be fierce, with Niall Evalds signed for 2021. Jordan Turner will join too and Feki (who will be like a new signing) means that Castleford have a wealth of talent in the backline. Turner being asked to play as a second row seems more likely.

In 2020, everything that could go wrong for Castleford did. After seven great years, Daryl Powell has enough credit in the bank to be afforded patience, especially in a year as disrupted as this one.

For 2021, will Castleford shake off the shackles of a poor 2020 season and prove it to be a one-off? Or, is it the sign of a malaise after a period of play off appearances? I have no idea which way it will go! But I'm looking forward to finding out!