I saw it coming, claims proud Holbrook after classy Saints tear Castleford apart
Justin Holbrook was expecting the ruthless performance that his St Helens produced to sweep aside Castleford on Magic Weekend. The leaders recorded a 15th Super League victory of the season at Anfield to restore their six-point advantage at the top.
And Holbrook said the seven-try performance came as no surprise. “I felt it. We had a great week, we looked up for it and we played like we should. We are playing really well, the side is taking its opportunities. It was very satisfying. We know how dangerous Castleford are and we played well for a good, dominant win.”
With St Helens just 11 miles from Liverpool, this had the feel of a home game for Holbrook’s men. In front of a Sunday crowd of 26,812, taking the weekend aggregate to 56,869, they opening the scoring when Tommy Makinson went in after a slick move between Theo Fages and Lachlan Coote.
Saints then picked off a second try, Regan Grace going in at the left corner after good hands from Coote and Zeb Taia. Two led to three, James Roby carving up Castleford down the middle and Jonny Lomax applying the finish.
Coote was providing again soon, his last-tackle run putting Fages in, but a Roby sin-binning after a tackle on Jake Trueman stopped Saints in their tracks. Grant Millington got one back for Cas while he was off, but the Tigers were unable to make any more inroads while a man up.
With Roby back on, Saints returned to full throttle, Jack Ashworth the recipient of a short ball from Joseph Paulo and scoring under the posts. Coote then got a try his play deserved, following Taia’s run and taking in his offload.
For their seventh score, Holbrook’s men moved right to left and Fages stood up a fantastic ball for Naiqama, who made it nine tries in five outings as he forced his way in at the corner.
Castleford began the day in the play-off positions but have now lost five of their past six. “We had a real dig, but for us that’s where we are at the moment,” coach Daryl Powell said. “We did see some signs, but we’re not durable enough within games, we get broken down too easily. We have a lot of boys missing, with no excuses, but I’m a little disappointed.”