Castleford coach Lee Radford delighted to pick up “special” first win

Drew Darbyshire
Daniel Smith and Joe Westerman Lee Radford Castleford Tigers SWpix

Photo: Allan McKenzie / SWpix

Castleford coach Lee Radford said it was special for his side to get their first win of the season after putting in a helluva lot of hard work.

Radford took over the coaching reigns at the Tigers in the off-season. But they had endured a difficult start to the season, having lost their first three games.

However, they enjoyed a change in fortunes on Sunday as they beat Radford’s former club Hull 33-26 at the Jungle to claim their first win under their new coach.

“I know there were headlines prior to the game, but for me it was just to get the win,” Radford said. “It was special for us to get a win after what has been real hard work for the last four weeks.

“I would have preferred to have got this result in round one, but the manner of the result was really important for us.

“We took a few upper cuts with the disciplinary and injuries during the week, but the sense of determination was there to see from the players in the week and today was the end result of that.”


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Greg Eden scored a hat-trick of tries to help Castleford secure their first win. Former Man of Steel Paul McShane also impressed in his makeshift role of half-back.

Radford added: “I though Macca (Paul McShane) put more air on the ball this week and Truey (Jake Trueman) has been on the move a bit more which is what we’ve been asking for. I thought young Cain Robb asked some real questions when he came on too.

“I thought Greg Eden coming in for his first game of the year was phenomenal and our big blokes did a real good job as well.”

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