Castleford coach reflects on costly errors as Tigers bow to Israel Folau

Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell bemoaned his side’s “frantic” nature as they watched a commanding Super League lead disappear against Catalans Dragons.
Masked man: Castleford's head coach Daryl Powell arrives at the stadium. Picture: SWPixMasked man: Castleford's head coach Daryl Powell arrives at the stadium. Picture: SWPix
Masked man: Castleford's head coach Daryl Powell arrives at the stadium. Picture: SWPix

The West Yorkshire club were quickly 14-0 up on their return from lockdown only to see a series of costly mistakes lead to them losing control at Emerald Headingley on Saturday.

Instead, Catalans built an emphatic 40-14 success that left Powell shaking his head in disbelief.

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“There were a couple of big turning points in the first half,” he said.

“The drop from Jesse Sene-Lefao is a clear one; we score there and potentially go 20-4 up.

“Soon after, Pete Mata’utia gets sin-binned and we never really got our game back after that.

“Our discipline wasn’t great in the second half, we gave too many penalties away and we were just frantic.

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“The try that we gave away just after half-time when Derrell (Olpherts) threw the ball behind our own line well, that puts you under pressure.

“We just went too frantic with what we were doing after that.”

Australian centre Israel Folau caused chaos for Castleford, creating one try and scoring a stunning solo effort in the next set to put Catalans 16-14 up at the break before continuing his masterclass in the second period.

“He’s clearly a great athlete,” said Powell.

“We could have defended better against him. Our left edge didn’t have their best day and they are usually a really solid unit.

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“Folau had a really great day; he looked strong, he’s athletic and they put the ball in the air for him. I don’t know how tall he is but he’s taller than anyone else on the field so he’s clearly going to be a kick target and we’ve seen in two games that that’s the case. He’s very dangerous.”

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