Rhinos vs Tigers: Match Preview

It's a 3pm kick-off on Good Friday will see Castleford and Leeds will finish off the second day of double-headers in the second round of Betfred Super League 2021.

Round Two will be the last round of fixtures played at neutral venues with clubs returning to playing matches at their own home grounds from Round Three.

Both the Tigers and the Rhinos have started the season well with opening-round victories, Leeds edging past Wakefield and Castleford impressing against Warrington. This game offers both Daryl Powell and Richard Agar a chance to lay down some early season form with back-to-back victories to kick-off 2021.

MOSE MASOE ROUND

The Easter weekend of fixtures in Betfred Super League is all in support of Mose Masoe, with fans being urged to donate by purchasing a virtual ticket with proceeds going to the newly founded Mose Masoe Foundation, which was launched to raise funds to help relieve the financial and mental hardship of players who suffer spinal injuries affecting their welfare and quality of life.

Fans can choose to donate either £5, £10, £15, or £20. The virtual tickets will be a donation only, as a gesture of solidarity within the Rugby League community, meaning a Sky Sports subscription or Our League access is still required to watch the games as normal.

Text 70085 to get your virtual ticket (texts cost the amount donate plus one standard message rate)

• Text 5MOSE to donate £5
• Text 10MOSE to donate £10
• Text 15MOSE to donate £15
• Text 20MOSE to donate £20 ​

TIGERS TEAM NEWS

Daryl Powell will be without Gareth O’Brien who failed a head injury assessment during last week’s match against Wire, and Jacques O’Neill will also be unavailable after suffering an oblique issue which is still currently being assessed. The Head Coach has confirmed Danny Richardson will play and make his first appearance of the season after missing out of the matchday 17 in the last round.

Call ups into the 21-man squad then for Lewis Bienek and Lewis Peachey, both of whom are young forward men and if Bienek was to play he would be making his Tigers competitive debut after joining in the off-season from Hull FC.

Michael Shenton is set to features in what will be his 400th career match, a remarkable feat for a modern-day legend of Castleford and our club captain. Further milestones could be made in this game too for Liam Watts it would be his 300th career appearance, Paul McShane’s 150th Castleford match and Peter Mata’utia’s 150th career appearance too!

THE OPPOSITION

Richard Agar has made just one change to the 21-man squad he named for Leeds’ game against Wakefield, Kyle Eastmond being replaced by youngster Corey Hall.

Former Tiger Luke Gale has recovered from a pectoral injury and has stated that in the Rhinos’ close win over Wakefield Trinity he was nowhere near his own standards and will be looking to impress against his former club.

POWELL’S PREVIEW

Speaking to the press ahead of game day, Head Coach Daryl Powell said he was looking forward to the derby.

“We want to do well this year and we want to win these games. I thought we put a marker down and made a bit of a statement for ourselves last week, set a bit of the standards for ourselves and we need to be up there again.”

WATCH Daryl Powell’s preview in full, for free, on Tigers TV

THE SQUADS

Castleford Tigers 21-man squad: - 1. Niall Evalds, 2. Derrell Olpherts, 3. Peter Mata’utia, 4. Michael Shenton, 6. Jake Trueman, 7. Danny Richardson, 8. Liam Watts, 9. Paul McShane, 10. Grant Millington, 11. Oliver Holmes, 12. Cheyse Blair, 13. Adam Milner, 14. Nathan Massey, 15. George Griffin, 19. Tyla Hepi, 21. Jesse Sene-Lefao, 22. Daniel Smith, 23. Greg Eden, 25. Jordan Turner, 26. Lewis Bienek, 27. Lewis Peachey

Leeds Rhinos 21-man squad: - 2. Tom Briscoe, 7. Luke Gale, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 9. Kruise Leeming, 10. Matt Prior, 11. Alex Mellor, 12. Rhyse Martin, 13. Zane Tetevano, 14. Brad Dwyer, 15. Liam Sutcliffe, 16. Richie Myler, 17. Cameron Smith, 19. King Vuniyayawa, 20. Bodene Thompson, 21. Alex Sutcliffe, 22. Sam Walters, 24. Luke Briscoe, 25. James Donaldson, 26. Jarrod O’Connor, 27. Jack Broadbent, 28. Corey Hall

PLAYER’S VIEW

Castleford Tigers’ first Super League try-scorer in 2021 Oliver Holmes is ready for the challenge of the Rhinos over at the Totally Wicked Stadium and complimented the captain Michael Shenton, ahead of what should be his 400th career game on Good Friday.

“He’s been a quality player for Cas, he came back and has been part of the rebuilding phase that started with Powelly and he’s brought high standards to the club. Solid leadership and he has put a lot of wingers away for a lot of tries over the years.

“On top of that he is just a great bloke to have around the place, I’m good mates with him and I’ve known Shenny a long time now. To amass 400 games is something not many have done, for the quality he has done it is outstanding, so we need to make sure we make it a special day for him.”

WATCH Oliver Holmes speaks to the press ahead of Round Two, for free on Tigers TV

HOW TO WATCH

• Watch the game live on Sky Sports Main Event (401) or on Sky Sports Arena (Channel 408).
• 2021 Season Ticket holders who have registered to watch via Our League with their unique 2021 code will be able to tune in using their stream codes on the app.
• This match in full will be available to watch for Tigers TV subscribers on Monday, highlights of the match will be available for everyone to view too.

GET INVOLVED

Cheer the Tigers on throughout the day on social media using hashtags: #ReadyToRoar and #COYF on social media!