After sealing a top four place, Castleford host Huddersfield in a West Yorkshire derby. Here’s everything you need to know…
SQUAD NEWS
Castleford Tigers
Tigers head coach Daryl Powell has made two changes to his squad who booked a semi-final spot with a win over Hull FC last week.
Greg Minikin, Castleford Tigers. Photo credit: Getty ImagesOliver Holmes (hamstring injury) and Will Maher are out, making way for the return from injury of Jesse Sene-Lefao and Greg Minikin.
Castleford 19-man squad: Clare, Clark, Eden, Gale, Massey, Mata’utia, McMeeken, McShane, Millington, Milner, Minikin, Moors, Roberts, Sene-Lefao, Shenton, Trueman, Wardle, Watts, Webster.
Huddersfield Giants
Giants head coach Simon Woolford has included a call-up for academy star Sam Hewitt to the 19-man squad. The centre has only played once this season, but played a prominent role when he featured on debut against Leeds Rhinos in March.
Innes Senior maintains his place in the squad after an accomplished performance last week, and the 18-year-old winger scored twice against Castleford at the John Smith’s Stadium earlier this season.
Jermaine McGillvary, Huddersfield Giants. Photo credit: Getty Images.There are two more changes from the squad that was narrowly defeated at Warrington Wolves last time out, as Colton Roche and Matty English also come in alongside Hewitt to replace the injured Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe and Alex Mellor.
Huddersfield 19-man squad: Mamo, Turner, Gaskell, Brough, Leeming, Lawrence, Hinchcliffe, Rankin, Roberts, Ta’ai, Clough, Smith, O’Brien, Roche, English, Wardle, Hewitt, Senior, Matagi.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The last time the two sides met Huddersfield had booked their place in the Super 8s with a storming 32-18 triumph to stun Castleford at their own ground.
Giants winger Jermaine McGillvary led the charge with a well-taken hat-trick to deny the Tigers the chance to move up to second in the Super League table, when there was one week of the regular season remaining.
KEY BATTLE – Paul McShane vs Ryan Hinchcliffe
Man-of-Steel contender Paul McShane will look to face up with Giants loose forward Hincliffe at The Jungle.
McShane will be looking to continue his fine form after his man-of-the-match performance against Hull FC last week, he currently has the most tackles this year – 1,049 to be exact!
Paul McShane, Castleford Tigers. Photo credit: Getty ImagesHinchcliffe has made 909 tackles so far, busting 29 attempts against him, and will be a big miss for the Giants when he retires at the end of the season.
It should be a classic clash of the titans between these two.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: Thursday 13th September
Venue: Mend-A-Hose Jungle
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Referee: Ben Thaler
POLL
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