Castleford v Leeds conclusions: Overseas Tigers man does himself no favours as Rhinos duo shine…

Leeds Rhinos were victorious on the road at The Jungle on Saturday afternoon, beating Castleford Tigers 29-6.

Having led 7-0 at the break, Brad Arthur’s side weathered an early second half storm from Cas before pushing on to ensure they’d depart with the two competition points on offer.

The Rhinos now sit 3rd on the Super League ladder, and these are our key conclusions from the Round 12 clash…

Leeds duo shine

We thought there were a number of impressive performances from those in Leeds shirts, but the two we want to highlight here are Jake Connor and Sam Lisone.

Connor has been revitalised since his off-season move to join the Rhinos, and delivered another terrific showing here. In a game which lacked composure for long periods, he offered a calm head – exemplified by his drop goal just before the break. We didn’t think we’d be writing that 12 months ago, which is testament to his development this year.

Powerhouse Lisone meanwhile entered the action on the half-hour mark from the bench and had an instant impact. On the back of a break, he was tackled off the ball, and then got himself on the end of.a pass from Connor to burst over the try-line for the opening score. Who knows what direction this game would’ve gone in without that contribution? He got another try late on, too.

Under-pressure Tigers man does himself no favours

Papua New Guinea international Liam Horne has been dropped more than once already this season by Castleford boss Danny McGuire, and has been linked – along with Judah Rimbu – with a swift exit from The Jungle.

He’s contracted until the end of 2026, but did himself no favours again here with a foolish yellow card for a trip early on which was then followed by a knock on immediately after returning to the field.

There was plenty of improvement thereafter, but that start to the game – from an individual point of view – is unacceptable, and we’re sure McGuire will be saying the same thing to him.

At home with the Seniors

In the absence of Tigers skipper Sam Wood, we saw twin brothers Innes and Louis Senior link up on Cas’ left-edge.

Having only played one Super League game this season prior, which came against Salford last week, Louis in particular will be delighted with his own personal showing.

The Ireland internationals linking up as they did will have given boss McGuire food for thought, at the very least.

Embarrassing technical issues (AGAIN!)

Not for the first time this season in Super League, we saw the officials’ communication fail.

10 minutes in, on-field referee Liam Rush let the captains of both sides know he’d no longer got communication with those in Wilmslow operating the video refereeing system.

As a result, Rush – who it’s worth noting handled it well – had to make video referee decisions himself by looking at the screen at The Jungle. On the two occasions he did so, the right decisions were reached, but that’s not the point. It shouldn’t happen, and it makes the sport look incredibly poxy.

Cas star set for extended break

When Lisone entered the field, his first carry saw him – very legally – trample Tom Amone, who had to go off for a HIA which he would ultimately fail.

As a result, Amone will now go three weeks between games as he’ll have to miss the Tigers’ trip to Warrington Wolves next week and there’s then no Super League fixtures due to the Challenge Cup final the following week.

The prop should return, all being well, for Cas’ visit to Hull FC on June 13.