Castleford Tigers’ Peter Mata’utia and Jesse Sene-Lefao rising to challenge for charity

Castleford Tigers stars Peter Mata’utia and Jesse Sene-Lefao will be making deliveries as part of fund-raising efforts for Prince of Wales Hospice.

Tigers’ first-team squad and coaching staff will be tackling the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge – walking Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in less than 12 hours – on Saturday, November 30, to raise money for the Pontefract hospice which is the club’s charity partner.

And Mata’utia and Sene-Lefao will be going the extra mile for the same cause when they join the staff at Pizza Prima in Castleford tomorrow and on Saturday, in a dough-for-dough exchange.

“We are trying to raise as much money as we can for the hospice and the work they do in our community,” Mata’utia explained.

“Some of the club sponsors are supporting us, like Pizza Prima.

“Me and Jesse will be delivering pizzas on Wednesday and Saturday and we’ll keep 20 per cent of each purchase and any tips we get from the purchasers.

“It’s a great gesture on Pizza Prima’s behalf and we’re keen to do anything we can to raise as much money as we can.”

The Three Peaks walk is likely to be less fun, but Mata’utia reckons it will do the squad good in the early stage of pre-season.

“Anything that tests us physically and mentally as a team is always going to benefit you,” he said.

“I only found out about it a couple of days ago.

“I am not a big fan of it, but anything that will make the team better and help the community out, I am down for trying my best.”

Tigers are now into the second week of pre-season and of preparations so far, the utility-back said: “It has been really good; the staff have been working really hard in the off-season with the game plan.

“We’ve broken everything down and the boys have got stuck right in.

“The young kids have been really impressive.”

Tigers have work to do after finishing fifth in Betfred Super League last season and being knocked out in the second round of the play-offs, but Mata’utia feels that was a creditable effort considering the club’s injury crisis.

“I am very confident,” he said. “Not many people thought we’d make that top-five before round one started.

“We were four straight wins with the team we had, but I think it was just me, Wattsy [Liam Watts] and Macca [Paul McShane] for a fair chunk of games and we were just trying to hang on until the rest of the boys came back.

“With what we [went through] last year I don’t think any other team would have made that top-five. It is a big positive for us.”

George Griffin was the latest new signing to report in for pre-season this week. Mata’utia added: “I’ve been very impressed with how he turned up.

“Richo [Danny Richardson] has impressed me with his skills a lot and I can’t wait to play with him.

“Razer [Jordan Rankin] getting a full season under his belt at full-back will be good and I can’t wait for everyone to come back.”