Tough assignment for Trueman against Wolves
CASTLEFORD TIGERS head coach Daryl Powell has backed young playmaker Jake Trueman to take control of his side tonight in the absence of his three most experienced halves.
The West Yorkshire club head to in-form Warrington Wolves knowing another victory will see them replace their opponents in third place. However, Jamie Ellis injured his back in last Friday’s win at Hull KR and now joins England scrum-half Luke Gale and Samoa star Benny Roberts on the sidelines.
Bradfordian Trueman, who only turned 19 in February but has quickly settled into Super League, must try and dictate against former England stand-off Kevin Brown and Australian Tyrone Roberts.
“We’ve three half-backs missing and not an awful lot of halfbacks on our roster so that’s going to make it very difficult for us,” admitted Powell.
“Jake Trueman’s going to lead us in that regard and he’s a young rugby league player.
“We’ll support him obviously, but it’s going to be a tough game and we’re going to need to work hard to make sure that our game functions like it needs to.”
There were signs of that at Rovers as Castleford’s defence, more than anything, rediscovered itself. Warrington, though, were imperious when beating Wigan Warriors 23-0 in the Challenge Cup on Saturday.
Powell, who could give debuts to ex-Hull KR prop Mitch Clark and former Sheffield Eagles fullback Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, said: “They signed Ben MurdochMasila from Salford, who was one of the best players in the competition last year.
“He’s obviously added to them and some of the players who perhaps didn’t have their best year last year are playing really well.
“They’ve signed Roberts and he’s playing well at half-back now. Brown didn’t really settle in last year and he’s also playing well now.
Daryl Clark’s back to his 2014 form.
“They’ve good players across the board and when they get into a bit of a groove that can have a big impact on the competition.
“I’m expecting a tough game; they really dominated Wigan last week and controlled the whole match.”