REMIND GAMES
Cas boss out to make amends for ‘gut-wrenching’ Final loss in ’98
DARYL POWELL will use lessons from playing in the inaugural Grand Final for Saturday’s opponents Leeds as his Castleford side aim to lift their first title.
Powell and his assistant coach Ryan Sheridan were the Rhinos’ half-backs when they lost the first Old Trafford decider 10-4 in 1998.
And the Tigers boss says memories from that historic night will resonate with him when he looks to end his hometown club’s 91-year championship drought.
Powell said: “Everybody knows what it’s like now, but they didn’t back then.
“The stadium is real steep when you walk out there, and the noise just absolutely whacks you. I want to help our players be aware of that.
“We stayed over that weekend, and we’re not doing that this year because I thought the period before the game was too long.
“We lost the game against Wigan (below, celebrating) in a real tight affair – it was wet, and Jason Robinson ended up doing the old dancing feet and getting through us. It was my only Grand Final as a player, and I knew at the time it probably would be, which was gut-wrenching.
“But the experience still sits with me as one of the most memorable of my career.
“To be coaching Castleford specifically, my hometown team, will make me very proud when I walk out on Saturday.” Powell later went on to coach the Rhinos before moving to director of rugby to make way for Tony Smith’s arrival in 2004.
But he insists he thinks only positively about his time at the club.
He added: “I was a really young head coach and I learned a massive amount.
“At the time when I took over the culture needed changing a bit because it had veered off track.
“I worked really hard to develop a culture and build a team that could do Leeds Rhinos justice, and I thought that we did that.
“I was very close to a Grand Final in my last year and made a Challenge Cup final that season in 2003 too.
“There was a lot of misinterpretation about what happened – I stepped down with the intention of going back into the job.
“That didn’t happen and I ended up coaching rugby union, and there were things I learned there that have helped my career.
“But it’s an outstanding club – and I loved every minute of my time there as a player and head coach.”