JAKE IS A TRUE HERO
Hat-trick for teen on first Tigers start
TEENAGER Jake Trueman took centre stage on his full debut to leave Wigan’s top-four hopes hanging by a thread.
All the pre-match focus had been on the absence of Castleford’s key man Luke Gale, who had surgery for a burst appendix on Tuesday.
He had guided the Tigers to their 12-point lead at Super League’s summit and remains a doubt for the semi-final in two weeks’ time.
With half-back partner Ben Roberts also out against Wigan, 18-year-old Trueman was thrust into the starting line-up after just three minutes of Super League action off the bench.
By half-time he had a topflight hat-trick to his name, leaving coach Daryl Powell to underline his faith in him however Gale’s recovery unfolds.
Powell said: “You would clearly be confident putting him on the field whatever the game, he handled it with real assurance.
“He looked comfortable – you can see it written all over him that he’s got this level mapped out not too far down the track.
“He’s going to be a very good player, he makes it look easy.”
Wigan captain Sean O’Loughlin was absent and the Warriors have lost all seven matches against Super League opposition this year when their skipper has not played.
Shaun Wane’s side were 26-0 down early in the second half, then narrowed the gap to 10 points at one stage but their display was well short of what is needed to win Grand Finals.
Wigan’s only top-four route is if Castleford beat Hull on Friday and they win at Wakefield the following day.
Wane said: “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. We had a really poor attitude. That firsthalf performance was way off the standard I expect.”
Trueman scored his first try on the quarter hour and completed his hattrick 17 minutes later.