Castleford Tigers player ratings: New recruits drop ‘worrying’ performance as Fords dumped out of Challenge Cup

Louis Chapman Coombe 09 Feb 2025 4:19 PM

Castleford Tigers man Judah Rimbu in action in 2025 — Judah Rimbu in action for Castleford Tigers

Following Castleford Tigers’ 18-16 defeat to Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup, here are the Love Rugby League player ratings.

Fletcher Rooney – 5

Made a lot of work for himself around the park, and seemed to play a decent part in most of Castleford’s attacking sets. Couldn’t quite get the breakaway he deserved, but always looked a threat.

Josh Simm – 4

Grabbed a nice try that got his side back into the game, and could easily have had another if not for some heroic defence, but otherwise fairly quiet.

Sam Wood – 6

Set himself a standard last year, and was once again a bright spark for his side today. Added some nice punch to their attack, as we’ve come to expect, and took more than his fair share of the load. Worked tirelessly in defence too.

Zac Cini – 2

Tough debut for the Australian recruit, who was simply outplayed by his opposite number. This will surely worry Danny McGuire, given Waqa Blake’s form in Super League last year, and could even cast doubt as to whether he starts in round one at all.

Innes Senior – 3

Not his day. As is customary with Senior, he worked incredibly hard around the park, but it was to little avail this time out as he was well managed by Bradford’s outside backs unit. Will have better days in a Castleford shirt though.

Tex Hoy – 4

The headlines will be dominated by his late miss, but he didn’t have a great game before that either. His try showed that killer edge he is capable of, but yet that was the only time we actually got to see it. Give him some credit though, that try was probably the highlight of the game.

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Daejarn Asi – 2

Showed a couple of nice flashes, but did not look like the player Castleford signed ahead of the new season. Just lacked any clarity in attack, which in turn made his side play stagnant, boring rugby, which again could worry McGuire.

George Griffin – 3

Busy, but ultimately bested by his opposite man. Struggled to get any proper go-forward during his shift. You think Griffin is no longer their long-term option to start in the front-row for Cas.

Liam Horne – 3

Made a couple big shots, but lacked that fire and venom we’ve come to expect from him. Did ok out of a messy ruck though.

George Lawler – 4

Again, got stuck in but ultimately couldn’t turn the tide as Bradford just rolled Castleford in the middle. Ran his blood to water though, and deserves to be commended for his efforts.

Jeremiah Simbiken – 5

Looked pretty tasty when he got going. He combined very well with Sam Wood on that right edge, which looks to be a real point of difference already, and added some much-needed beef to the pack. Grabbed a try for his efforts too.

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Josh Hodson – 3

Couldn’t have the same influence as his opposite number, and found himself well-beaten by his opposite number.

Joe Westerman – 4

Mixed bag for the usually classy Westerman. Added some nice touches in attack and combined well with the players around him, but couldn’t quite do it enough to get them back into the game.

Bench

Liam Watts – 3

Added very little impact, if truth be told.

Judah Rimbu – 3

Looked to add some tempo, to his credit, but overall not his day.

Muizz Mustapha – 5

One of Castleford’s better players on the day, to be fair. Made some very nice carries which allowed his side to claw their way back into the game and halted some of the Bulls’ momentum through the middle.