James Clare excited to go up against good friend Greg Minikin

Castleford winger James Clare is looking forward to facing his old centre partner Greg Minikin at Hull KR on Thursday night.

Minikin and Clare were paired together at the Tigers for the 2019 campaign but Minikin made the move to Hull KR over the off-season and has started all four games on the right wing for his new club.

Clare said: “It could be a one-on-one against him, which is always nice. He’s an extremely good friend of mine.

“I’m actually doing some coaching with him and no doubt I’ll be having a bit of banter with him, telling him I’ll jump over his head or something like that. It’s always a bit of fun.”

Hull KR sit second-bottom in the Super League table after losing three from their first four games – but Clare has been impressed by their style of play under Tony Smith.

He added: “They were unlucky against Hull FC. If they had won that game, you probably wouldn’t be saying they’ve had a bad start.

“They’ve had a bad showing against Leeds and Huddersfield but the way Tony Smith has got Hull KR playing at the moment, being expansive, you’re going to let tries in every now and again.

“But they are scoring some phenomenal tries as well and we’ve got to be ready for absolutely anything.

“They’re not playing the kind of structured way everybody expects rugby league teams to play. It’s difficult to defend when they’re getting however many offloads away every single game.”

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