Daryl Powell: My players joked about partial refund for fans

Posted Monday, April 09, 2018 by PA

Castleford coach Daryl Powell says his players joked about giving their fans half of their admission money back following a dismal second-half display at Huddersfield.

The Tigers were in total control at half-time when they led 28-6 against an injury-hit Giants side, but they were left hanging on for a 40-28 victory after the home team staged a tremendous fightback after the break.

There were echoes of Castleford’s recent performance at Leeds, where they led 25-10 at half-time and held on for victory despite failing to score in the second half.

“We’re not coming out after half-time and playing the same way we have in the first half,” Powell said.

“It’s a little bit disappointing. There’s a consistency to it. We’re ticking along alright in terms of picking up points but we’re not playing that great.

“We just had a good chat about it in the changing rooms. The players are as frustrated as our fans will be and as I am.

“We talked about giving the species half their money back I think, we’re only giving them 40 minutes of value at the moment.

“We’ve got some things we to tidy up and a lot of it has to be mental, there’s no other reason.”

The Tigers went into the game without England scrum-half Luke Gale after he rolled an ankle in training and they lost winger Greg Eden, Super League’s leading tryscorer in 2017, at half-time after he aggravated a hamstring injury in scoring his first try of the season on his return to the side.

“He’s done his hammy again,” Powell said. “He’s going through a tough time at the moment. He trained all week and he looked fine so it’s massively disappointing and a big blow.

“Losing him threw us out of sync but there’s no excuses.”

Huddersfield interim boss Chris Thorman revealed he had read the riot act at half-time, bringing about the desired response from his youthful, patched-up side.

“I went ballistic at half-time, it was a crescendo of profanity,” Thorman said.

“I know there’s plenty of excuses with injuries but I know what the players are capable of and it shouldn’t take me to lose my rag and get personal to a get a response.

“It’s just really disappointing that it takes me to lose my rag to give them some energy and enthusiasm and for them to come out and have a crack.”

Winger Innes Senior, 17, called up alongside twin brother Louis in the absence of seven injured regulars, led the comeback with two tries on his home debut.

“We saw some good execution out there and I was really happy with Innes finishing his tries,” Thorman said.

“It shows he’s probably one of the most capable 17-year-olds I’ve ever seen, apart from his brother on the other wing who didn’t quite get the same service.

“I’m really pleased with both of them. Louis followed on from his performance against Leeds. They’ve got some real potential.”

The result leaves Thorman still looking for his first win as caretaker coach but he confirmed he will remain in charge for next Sunday’s home game against Salford.

“I’m just going a week at a time,” he said. “I’ve got the full support of (chairman) Ken (Davy) and (managing director) Richard Thewlis.”