Huby ready for Rhinos

Castleford prop Craig Huby is looking for a first win at Headingley when the Tigers face Leeds on Friday.

Huby, 23, made his Super League debut against the Rhinos in 2003 at the age of just 17, but is yet to taste victory against the reigning champions.

The young prop received the call from then coach Graham Steadman after an injury to first-team forward Nathan Sykes.

Huby recalled: “The call came out of the blue but coming when it did I didn’t have too much time to think about it. I remember being nervous but when the game got going I enjoyed the occasion and I seem to recall that I went OK, we didn’t win but losing 26-39 wasn’t a bad performance.

“Headingley can be an intimidating place to go but I enjoy the atmosphere and I’m sure it will be no different this Friday and we are determined to put in a good performance. Like myself there are a lot of local players in our squad and we know how important the derby games are to the fans just as they are to us, so we hope that we have our usual big following of Tigers fans behind us.

“It will be our first game and we are looking for a good start to build upon the great strides that we took in 2009, and what better way to kick off our new season than to put in an impressive performance against the champions.”