Castleford Tigers v Salford Red Devils: Five takeaways as new recruit cements ‘hero status’ while Marc Sneyd shows ‘glimmer of hope’ for gritty visitors

Following Castleford Tigers’s 22-14 win over Salford Red Devils, here are our five key takeaways from the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

The top line

After a fairly frantic opening 20 minutes, the Fords got their noses in front. A string of Salford ill-discipline – which saw Kallum Watkins sent to the sin-bin – gifted the hosts concentrated possession close to the line, but the score came courtesy of a delicious offload from Dan Okoro, who connected with the on-charging Liam Horne and sent him powering over the line.

After some half-chances for both sides, Salford pulled level. After some chaotic play, a clever carry from Watkins allowed him to throw a crafty offload to Ryan Brierley, who in turn danced his way towards the whitewash for the score.

Castleford came out strong in the second-half, and after having a Judah Rimbu try chalked off they eventually regained the lead through Muizz Mustapha, as he charged through the Salford line to score from long-range. Tex Hoy extended their lead shortly after, as he slotted an easy two-pointer.

But, Salford hit back quickly as Watkins added his name to the scoresheet. A scintillating break from younger Kai Morgan flipped the field in a matter of seconds, and his pass sent the back-rower waltzing home for their second of the evening.

The visitors nearly pulled level from the boot of Sneyd, but his kick drifted just wide of the uprights.

This miss very, very nearly came back to haunt the Red Devils too, after a Rimbu kick sent Josh Simm over the line, but the winger’s effort was chalked off for a knock-on.

After a narrow escape, the Red Devils looked to pile the pressure on Cas. A penalty, a repeat set and two back-to-back successful Captain’s Challenges allowed them to set up shop in the Cas 10-metre area, but the boot of Sneyd was what got them their next points as he slotted a penalty goal.

With the clock in the red, Rimbu put the final nail in Castleford’s first win of the season as he burrowed over from short range.

Adding the cherry on top of the win, Hoy added another penalty goal to push it out to 22-14.

First win

It’s been a long time coming for the Fords, but they now have their first win of the season.

Losses to Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup and Hull KR, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos in Super League had left them pondering where their first win would come from, and made even the staunchest of Tigers fans ponder where the club was heading, but this will give them a huge boost moving forward.

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The Fords are the only Super League side not in Challenge Cup action next weekend, but heading into this mini-break off the back of a win will surely give them a lot of momentum and potentially act as a catalyst for the rest of their campaign.

It might not have been pretty, but it’s a mood-shifter win.

New hero cements status

Judah Rimbu had already made himself a fan favourite with the Castleford faithful, but after tonight’s performance, he has cemented that hero status with a mesmerising performance.

The PNG star, who has already spoken of his love for the Tigers since joining, was simply at the heart of everything good for his side. Be that some darts from dummy-half, powerful carries through the middle, distributing out to Asi and Hoy or even offloading to send middles through different holes, it just seemed everything he put his mind too paid off for his side and really added some extra spice to their play. To round off a fine showing, he nabbed the match-winning try.

That sort of intensity and venom has been lacking from the Fords’ attack this season, but with Rimbu playing the way he did there was just a new edge about them and it showed.

Danny McGuire has already spoken about how he likes Rimbu in this role too, and after tonight it’ll be incredibly hard to displace him moving forward.

Castleford middles stand tall

It’s no secret that Castleford are in the market for middles, even Danny McGuire has said they are looking to bolster their ranks here on multiple occasions, but those currently at the club gave a really good account of themselves tonight and stood up tall when it mattered.

Muizz Mustapha was probably the best of a good bunch. He just played with a hunger and desire to get involved in the attack and as a result, charged through the Red Devils’ defence like an angry bull.

Imposing Papua New Guinea star Sylvester Namo was also fantastic from the bench. His sheer brute strength and speed make him a real handful for defenders, but with Rimbu, Mustapha and Horne taking more than their fair share of the load he could just inject himself into the game at different times to make a difference.

Debutant Dan Okoro, on loan from Warrington Wolves, also showed he can mix it at this level during his stint. His rangy limbs meant he could throw a few offloads out of the tackle, as he did for Horne’s opening score, but on top of this he just carried exceptionally hard through traffic too.

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But, whilst there were some standout individuals, as a unit they finally showed they can get the better of teams through the middle and actually roll teams, which has been missing for some time from the Fords.

They are by no means the finished article in this department (even though I’ve waxed lyrical about them in this section!), but this is a very good sign of what they can achieve moving forward.

The name is Sneyd, Marc Sneyd

The saying ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ is probably embodied in Salford half-back Marc Sneyd, who is just getting better and better with every year.

Sneyd, who was firmly in contention for the coveted Steve Prescott Man of Steel award last year, was just the ultimate conductor to all of Salford’s champagne rugby. For all of the dazzling flashes of Macdonald, Marsters, Brierley and Watkins, Sneyd was always on hand to calm things down for his side and make the most of the situation.

On top of his typical playmaking skills, he again proved why he is considered one of the best in-play kickers in the top flight with some brilliant efforts from the boot. He began in perfect fashion, nailing a 40:20 in the opening few minutes of the game, came up with a rare 20:40 as well and just generally kicked beautifully in open play.

It might be bleak times at Salford, but as long as Sneyd is on the pitch there is a glimmer of hope.

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