Castleford Tigers: The eye-opening stats behind Bradford Bulls victory as Ryan Carr lauds performance
Ryan Carr (pictured) following his side's win over Bradford Bulls in 2026
Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr has lauded his side’s performance in their win over Bradford Bulls, detailing that they had learned the harsh lessons from their 72-6 defeat to Warrington Wolves.
That defeat at the Halliwell Jones last time out, which Carr described as the worst performance of his coaching career, was Castleford’s heaviest defeat for 20 years, but they responded in the perfect way by beating West Yorkshire rivals Bradford Bulls 40-28 last night (Thursday, 26th March).
‘We learned a lot’
While the defeat last weekend would have undoubtedly hurt, Carr felt his side have used it in the best possible way and turned it into both a win and a strong performance against the Bulls.
“I thought they did a tremendous job tonight, the boys,” he said. “We didn’t let the setbacks get to us this week, which is something we’ve spoken about.
“If we didn’t review the game properly and go harsh on ourselves from last week (against Warrington), I don’t think we would have responded in that way.
“I’m really proud and happy for the players,” he continued. “We’ve all had a tough week, so I’m happy to see them smiling and being proud of their performance.”
“We learned a lot (from last weekend) by being honest about things, not sugarcoating things and being men about things; and honestly, that performance tonight by some players was unbelievable.”
“We had zero field position there for a bit, but when we got in there (the red zone), we came up with points. I didn’t think we were chasing the points, either; they were well-built points. Just as a team, we look comfortable in how we attack and how we play.
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“In other games earlier in the season, we probably created those opportunities but didn’t finish them; but tonight we did a really good job to finish them and get points.”
Analysis – the numbers behind Castleford Tigers’ 40-28 win over Bradford Bulls
There is certainly reason for Carr to be pleased with his side’s display as well, with this statistically one of their best performances of the season.
Castleford’s attack has shown glimpses of genuine quality this season, but it seemed to click to its full extent last night.
Carr’s side notched a healthy 1342 metres in the win from just 171 carries (7.8 metres-per-carry), while also making a collective 27 tackle busts in the process. Around that, it was more controlled than it was in previous outings as well, with just three offloads all night compared to the nine last time out against Warrington and six against Leeds.
Castleford also looked to play wide early, and got good change from it. Jason Qareqare was the leader in that respect, making a game-high 149 metres from his 13 carries, with his connection with Krystian Mapapalangi brewing nicely to see that partnership connect from three tries (Mapapalangi three assists, Qareqare three tries).
Their defence also stood up to the test against one of the most attack-minded sides in the league as well.
Across the 80 the Fords made 268 completed tackles across the 80 minutes at a collective success rate of 95%, which comes in 5% higher than last weekend’s woeful 72-6 defeat against Wire (90% success rate) as well as beating the 92% from Leeds Rhinos, 94% from Huddersfield Giants, 88% v Toulouse Oylmpique and 93% from their opener against Wigan.
They also posted their lowest single total of missed tackles as well, missing just 14 across the evening.
Within that, the bulk of the efforts came from the pack, who had been questioned in recent weeks and especially after that loss to Warrington. George Lawler led the way with 30 tackles to his name, while Tom Forber made 28, Jordan Lane 26, Joe Westerman 24, while Sam Hall, George Hirst and Brock Greacen all finished on 22. Tom Weaver also finished the night with the most tackles of any back, tying with the latter trio on 22 as well.
It was still far from perfect, but it’s a win that arguably kickstarts the Carr era into full gear.
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