Daryl Powell claims win over former club Castleford – talking points

Josh McAllister
Josh Charnley

Daryl Powell and his Warrington side claimed a 34-10 victory over Castleford at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

It was the first time Daryl Powell had faced his former club in the Tigers.

Toby King returned to Warrington’s line-up after missing round one through injury. Captain Jack Hughes was also named for the first time on the bench.

Gareth O’Brien made his first appearance of the year under Lee Radford. Jake Mamo, named in the centres, faced his former club.

Winger Matty Ashton opened the scoring on the 5th minute with a length-of-the-field effort to give his side an early lead.

Half-back George Williams extended that lead on 14 minutes, with Stefan Ratchford converting both goals for a 12-0 lead at half-time.

HT: Warrington 12-0 Castleford

Scoring his third of the season so far, Derrell Olpherts crossed for Castleford early in the second half to give his side some hope with a 12-4 score.

On his 100th Warrington appearance, Josh Charnley scored on 50 minutes for a 16-4 lead. It was also the international winger’s 250th career try.

Rob Mulhern crashed through a tiring defence just six minutes later for a 22-4 score before centre Peter Mata’utia scored from an error for a 28-4 lead.

Jake Trueman scored on 66 minutes under the sticks for a 28-10

Charnley crossed for a brace on 73 minutes before being subbed off for a full-time result of 34-10. 

FT: Warrington 34-10 Castleford

Warrington: Ratchford, Charnley, Mata’utia, King, Ashton, Widdop, Williams, Philbin, Walker, Mulhern, Currie, Longstaff, Clark.

Subs: Hughes, Bullocks, Davis, Thewlis. 

Tries: Ashton, Williams, Charnley (2), Mulhern, Mata’utia.

Goals: Ratchford 5

Castleford: Evalds, Olpherts, Fonua, Mamo, Faraimo, Trueman, O’Brien, Lawler, Smith, McShane, Sutcliffe, Edwards, Westerman.

Subs: Watts, Griffin, Turner, Blair.

Tries: Olpherts, Trueman.

Goals: O’Brien 1

Talking points 

Castleford improvements

It’s still early days; so no need to panic for Castleford fans just yet. But Radford definitely needs to work on his side to ensure they’re fighting for the play-offs in 2022.

A handful of players looked fatigued in the second half. Supporters will be hoping for an improvement next week against Hull KR.

Whizzy Rascal steals the show

Warrington have improved their match-day entertainment in recent years.

This time, it was the show of young Whizzy Rascal. 

250 tries for Charnley

Charnley scored his 250th career try in the clash with Castleford. The former Wigan winger has 199 tries in Super League to his name. 

The international has scored 64 for Warrington, 164 for Wigan, 5 for Hull KR, 5 for Blackpool Panthers, 10 for England and two for England Knights.

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