Where are they now? The Castleford Tigers side that beat Wigan Warriors in the 2014 Challenge Cup quarter-finals

En-route to the 2014 Challenge Cup final, Castleford Tigers inflicted Wigan’s first home defeat in the competition for 28 years, beating the Warriors in the last-eight at the DW Stadium.

Shaun Wane‘s Wigan had done the double the year before, lifting the cup at Wembley for a 19th time to extend their record as the competition’s top dogs, and going on to be crowned Super League champions.

Castleford meanwhile had not made it past the quarter-finals since 2011, and hadn’t reached a Challenge Cup final since 1992 when Wigan had beaten them.

But it was indeed the Tigers who had last beaten a Wigan side in a home cup-tie back in 1986, when a 10-2 win was earned on Cas’ way to the Challenge Cup lift which remains their most recent to this day.

And in 2014, it would be the Tigers who progressed to the last-four – and eventually the final – as history repeated itself courtesy of a memorable 16-4 win away from home. Liam Farrell scored Wigan’s only try – and points – on the day in front of a crowd of 8,736.

A decade on, the two clubs will square off again in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals this weekend, and ahead of that meeting, we take a look at where the 17 Tigers from that 2014 triumph are today…

Where are they now? The Castleford Tigers side that beat Wigan Warriors in the 2014 Challenge Cup quarter-finals

Luke Dorn

2014 was Dorn‘s first year of his second stint at Cas, re-joining after five years in the capital playing under both the ‘Harlequins RL’ and London Broncos taglines. Having also featured for Salford – then City Reds – in 2007, he accrued 280 appearances and scored 183 tries in the British game before returning Down Under as he left the Tigers at the end of the 2016 season.

In this quarter-final, the video referee controversially ruled out what would have been the opening try from Dorn in the first half for an obstruction. When he returned to hometown Maitland, the ex-NRL ace played for local club Maitland Pickers, becoming their player-coach before retiring at the end of 2018.

At 41, now plays touch rugby and is the ‘New South Wales territory manager’ of a large engineering firm.

Kirk Dixon

Now 39, Hull-born Dixon – who scored the try which sealed victory in the quarter-final – was a dual-code ace, featuring in both league and union. Having played for Hull FC, he would join Cas in 2007 following a brief stint in union with Northampton Saints.

2014 would be his final year as a player, calling time on his career before the following campaign began having needed surgery on his neck. Retiring with over 150 Super League appearances to his name, and over 100 career tries, Dixon is now the Commercial Director of his own building services & contractors firm.

Michael Shenton

A true Cas legend, the club’s second-highest appearance maker and outright highest try-scorer in Super League with 347 games (all comps) played and 161 tries scored (all comps) in a Tigers shirt over two stints. Also a 12-time England international, Shenton spent just two years away from Cas in his whole career – both of those at St Helens.

Set to turn 38 in July, he retired at the end of the 2021 season, joining Hull FC and heading up their youth ranks. In the off-season just gone, he departed and made the move to Wakefield Trinity following their relegation to the Championship, now the assistant coach at Belle Vue.

Jake Webster

New Zealand international Webster turned 40 in October 2023, and has spent almost half of his life in England having first moved over here in 2008 when he joined Hull KR after 67 appearances in the NRL. KR and Cas would be the only two Super League clubs he featured for, departing the Jungle at the end of the 2018 season.

After a brief stint at Bradford Bulls, the Melbourne native moved on to Keighley Cougars where he formally announced his retirement last year, appointed as the club’s Director of Rugby. Webster – who set up Dixon’s try in this quarter-final – pulled the boots on for one last time in pre-season, featuring in his testimonial against Cas at Cougar Park.

James Clare

Hometown boy Clare – now 32 – scored the opening try of the quarter-final just before half-time. He would depart the Jungle at the end of the following season, going on to play for both Bradford and Leigh – then Centurions – before returning to the Tigers in 2018.

After 158 career appearances, 108 of those for Cas, he retired at the end of the 2022 season. The club had offered him a new deal, but he rejected it to focus on his own coaching business. Alongside the coaching, he now works as a careers co-ordinator in a local school.

Marc Sneyd

England international Sneyd‘s only year with Castleford was 2014, spending the campaign with them as a loanee from Salford. Of the 2,344 points he’s scored in his career to date, 262 came that year for the Tigers including four in this quarter-final, successfully converting two of the three tries they scored on the day at the DW.

After seven years with Hull FC, he returned to Salford in 2022 and is now one of the main men in Paul Rowley’s team. The 33-year-old continues to score points for fun, recently moving up to fifth in Super League’s all-time goal-kicking list.

Liam Finn

Cas were one of seven different clubs that Finn represented in his career, spending two seasons at the Jungle with 2014 the first of those. Still Ireland’s top-appearance maker to this day with 31, the playmaker would eventually hang his boots up at the end of the 2021 season following three years with Dewsbury Rams, who he then took over as head coach.

Following relegation in his first year at the helm, Finn led the Rams to the League 1 title last year and the 40-year-old is now in charge of hometown club Halifax Panthers, where he began his career. Full circle.

Andy Lynch

Cas would be the final club that prop Lynch played for, with 2014 the first of his four years at the Jungle, returning for a second stint with the Tigers. The ex-Bradford Bulls & Hull FC ace, who also featured for Yorkshire, England & Great Britain on the representative front, retired at the end of 2017 with 452 Super League appearances to his name.

Now 44, Lynch – who was denied a try in this quarter-final by John Bateman’s last-gasp tackle – has emigrated to Australia with his wife and three sons.

Daryl Clark

Clark began his career with hometown club Castleford, debuting in 2011. Having earned his first England caps at the end of 2014, he departed for pastures new and Warrington Wolves where he established himself as one of the best hookers in Super League, making 243 appearances over nine seasons.

The 31-year-old joined St Helens in the off-season just gone, given the daunting task of being James Roby’s replacement, and has continued to impress in his first few games donning the Red V.

Craig Huby

Another local lad in this Tigers side was Huby, who also departed at the end of the 2014 season. Having debuted 11 years prior in 2003, he left the Jungle with 241 appearances for Cas on his CV, linking up with Huddersfield Giants before finishing his career off at Wakefield.

Making just one appearance for Trinity at the start of the 2019 season before leaving the club by mutual consent, the 38-year-old officially called time on his career at the end of that year, with injuries blighting him. Huby is now Finn’s assistant at Halifax, making the move across Yorkshire with him in the off-season having held the same role at Dewsbury.

Oli Holmes

Born in Cas, Holmes too began his career with the Tigers and debuted in 2010. He would remain at the Jungle until the end of the 2021 season, making 229 appearances and earning international recognition with a sole appearance for England in 2018.

The forward – who linked up with Leigh after just one year at Warrington – is approaching his 32nd birthday. He lifted the Challenge Cup with the Leopards last year, coming off the interchange bench in the final against Hull KR.

Weller Hauraki

Hauraki, who featured in the NRL for Parramatta Eels at the start of his career, joined the Tigers from Leeds Rhinos in 2013. A New Zealand Māori representative, the second-rower surpassed the milestone of 250 appearances in the British game just before he announced his retirement at the end of the 2020 campaign.

With stints at Crusaders, Salford, Widnes Vikings (loan) and Hull KR – as well as Leeds & Cas – prior to hanging up his boots, the 39-year-old recently featured for local club Dannervirke Tigers and is a carpenter.

Lee Jewitt

By the time he played his last game, in a Widnes shirt in 2021, Jewitt – who dummied and went over for the try that put the icing on the cake in this quarter-final – had featured for six different English clubs as well as Limoux over in France and Australian outfit Townsville Blackhawks.

Making just over 200 career appearances, Jewitt – who turned 37 in February – has recently played for community outfit Waterhead Warriors while coaching some of Shevington Sharks’ youngsters. He is also a CBT therapist, working with staff and students in special educational needs schools.

Grant Millington (interchange)

Another modern day Tigers legend. New South Wales native Millington arrived from Down Under – having made 55 NRL appearances – in 2012 and spent 10 seasons with Cas, scoring 33 tries in 244 appearances. Only three men have ever featured more times in Super League for the club – Nathan Massey, Shenton & Adam Milner.

Millington departed the Jungle at the end of the 2021 season and spent the last couple of years of his career back in Australia with the Western Suburbs Red Devils, hanging up his boots for good last year. The 37-year-old is now enjoying retirement Down Under.

Frankie Mariano (interchange)

Hull-born Mariano – who started out at KR and also played for Wakefield – spent three years with Cas, and 2014 was the first of those. Earning the first of his seven Scotland caps at the end of 2016, he would drop down to the Championship with Featherstone Rovers ahead of the following campaign.

Also donning a shirt for both Doncaster and Sheffield Eagles, the 36-year-old retired from the game at the end of the 2021 season and is now a full-time joiner in home city Hull and the surrounding areas.

Scott Wheeldon (interchange)

Also born in Hull, fellow forward Wheeldon had played for both FC and KR – as well as London – before he linked up with the Tigers in 2014.

Following a similar path to Mariano, the prop – who left Cas at the end of the 2015 season – played for both Sheffield and Featherstone before he called time on his career at the end of the 2021 campaign. Wheeldon is now 38, and though he’s still quite active on social media, we couldn’t find out what his career path is now. If you know, get in touch!

Jamie Ellis (interchange)

Rounding off the 17, Ellis is still playing now having featured in all eight of Oldham’s games so far this year, scoring a try for the League 1 outfit in their derby against Rochdale Hornets recently. The 34-year-old had two stints with Cas, with 2014 being the final year of the first one.

St Helens, Leigh (twice), Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR, York & Swinton Lions are the other clubs Ellis has played for in his career, now just nine appearances off the 250 mark and 15 tries off the milestone of 100. 73 of those appearances came in Tigers colours, and that’s the most of any club he’s featured for, at least so far!

Head coach: Daryl Powell

One of the most experienced coaches in the game, Powell – now 58 – has taken charge of over 500 games, and more than 200 of those were while he was at the helm of Cas. In the hotseat at the Jungle between 2013 and 2021, he led the Tigers to two Challenge Cup finals and a Super League Grand Final, the latter in 2017 after they’d won the League Leaders’ Shield.

Departing for Warrington, Powell would last just 18 months at the Halliwell Jones Stadium before being sacked after a defeat at Wakefield last July, the team he now heads up! The veteran took charge at Belle Vue in the off-season, and has so far done a sterling job, with Trinity top of the Championship table and having Wembley in their sights in the 1895 Cup.

Wigan Warriors’ 2014 Challenge Cup quarter-final line-up

For reference, here’s the Wigan team from the 2014 Challenge Cup quarter-final…

Starting 13: Matt Bowen, Dom Manfredi, Dan Sarginson, Anthony Gelling, Joe Burgess, George Williams, Matty Smith, Ben Flower, Micky McIlorum, Gil Dudson, Liam Farrell, John Bateman, Sean O’Loughlin

Interchanges: Jack Hughes, Dom Crosby, Ryan Hampshire, Ryan Sutton

Head coach: Shaun Wane