Castleford Tigers: Silverware's a realistic goal reckons Millington

The 44-16 drubbing of Leigh Centurions in Betfred Super League round one underlined Tigers’ status as genuine contenders this year, but Millington knows things can go wrong quickly.

“This time last year we were confident about making the top-four as well,” he recalled. “The way things panned out, it wasn’t to be. We had a lot of injuries and people playing out of position and we had to scrap for wins. I think you need a bit of luck to win anything these days.

“With a bit of luck with injuries and if a couple of bounces of the ball go our way, I think we have a chance of doing something, but there’s still a lot of hard work to do first.

“We have been around fifth or fourth for the last couple of years and we have been building to something. Fingers crossed, everyone stays healthy and we can take that next step.

“We’ve put so much work in, Powelly [boss Daryl Powell] and the coaching staff have worked so hard to build a squad that can contend and we need to repay everyone for getting us here – and the town as well because they’ve been behind us all the way.”

The trip to Warrington Wolves in three days’ time will give a good indication of Tigers’ prospects. Millington said: “We’ve got the confidence and belief and for us it’s just about building a season.

“We take things week by week and it’s important not to get too far ahead of ourselves. We have to take on the challenge that’s in front of us.

“Leigh were a big challenge for us, it being their first game in Super League. They are quite an aggressive side defensively and you could see that in the first 20 minutes, it was to and fro and they threw a lot at us.

“We rode it out and ended up coming in at half-time with 26 points. It was a good start, but we’ve still got a bit to build on. We had a 10-15 minute period when they scored a couple of tries, which was disappointing. We had that a few times last year and it’s something that really let us down.

“It lets sides get back into the game and gives them a sniff. Overall we are really positive and happy, but it’s good we’ve still got bits to work on and keep improving. It’s a long season and there’s a lot of tough challenges.

“We’ve only played one game and for us to get carried away now would be a huge mistake.

“We have a pretty well-grounded group of boys here and the coaching staff keep everybody grounded, which is really important.”