Super League Preview: Castleford v Huddersfield

Ian Millward has made several changes to his Castleford squad for the visit of Huddersfield on Saturday.

Ryan Boyle is in line for his second debut for the club, after joining from Salford in a swap deal with Jake Emmitt on Thursday.

Justin Carney will start his two-match ban, while Jake Webster (knee), Steve Nash (calf), Kirk Dixon (virus) and Grant Millington are all missing.

Lee Gilmour, Richard Owen and Jamie Ellis are all in the 19-man squad.

Millward said: “The spirit off the field is good, the interaction between the players and staff is good. The Friday result knocked our confidence; the performance was flat and we got knocked around the middle of the park.

“There a couple of key areas that we need to improve from the two Easter games and we need to improve them against Huddersfield.”

For Huddersfield, Stuart Fielden comes in in place of Eorl Crabtree, who was handed a one-match ban this week after committing a dangerous throw in the defeat at Salford last Friday.

Coach Paul Anderson was pleased with the return of Michael Lawrence in Monday’s 62-6 romp over Widnes.

Castleford 19-man squad: Owen, Shenton, Chase, Ellis, Walker, Clark, Huby, Gilmour, Hauraki, Milner, Massey, Holmes, Thompson, Tansey, Fleming, Clare, Martin, Mason, Boyle.

Huddersfield 19-man squad: Grix, George, Cudjoe, Wardle, McGillvary, Brough, Robinson, Lunt, Kopczak, Ferres, Faiumu, Lawrence, Patrick, Murphy, Cording, Fairbank, Ferguson, Dawson, Fielden.

Prediction: Huddersfield will be keen to avoid a lapse away from home for the second week in succession – away win.

Stats:

Castleford have won their last four home meetings with Huddersfield, with the Giants’ last away win against the Tigers coming 26-24 on 14 March, 2009.

Last 10 meetings:

Castleford 52, Huddersfield 6 (SLR20, 8/7/12)
Huddersfield 42, Castleford 4 (SLR7, 16/3/12)
Castleford 22, Huddersfield 18 (CCQF, 24/7/11)
Huddersfield 40, Castleford 18 (SLR16, 5/6/11(at The Shay, Halifax)
Castleford 18, Huddersfield 12 (SLR2, 19/2/11)
Castleford 44, Huddersfield 18 (SLR20, 4/7/10)
Huddersfield 24, Castleford 0 (SLR11, 9/4/10)
Huddersfield 6, Castleford 13 (SLR17, 19/6/09)
Huddersfield 16, Castleford 14 (CCQF, 31/5/09)
Castleford 24, Huddersfield 26 (SLR5, 14/3/09)

Super League summary:

Castleford won 19
Huddersfield won 10
Castleford highest score: 52-6 (H, 2012) (also widest margin)
Huddersfield highest score: 64-12 (H, 2008) (also widest margin)