Castleford Tigers v Wakefield Trinity: Friendships put aside for derby-day showdown

Castleford Tigers play host to Wakefield Trinity in a Betfred Super League clash which pits Jesse Sene-Lefao against some of his closest mates.

The Tigers forward is poised to play his 150th career game and the fact it is against Trinity makes the milestone extra special.

“We know it’s a big game,” Sene-Lefao said. “My best mate, Tinirau Arona, plays on the other team and guys I was brought up with.

“I grew up playing against David Fifita, he’s from the same area as me.

“And Kelepi [Tanginoa] as well, there’s a lot of Western Sydney boys there.

“Even our families back home wake up for this game because they know we are playing against each other.

“Our parents are tight, so it’s a big game – our kids go to the game together and they are fighting against each other during the game and then cousins again.”

Sene-Lefao admitted it is “funny we are playing against each other here in the UK”.

He said: “It is pretty weird it is happening like this, but we are not friends on the field.

“That makes it even bigger. I know they are coming to get me and I am going to get them too.”

Tigers are aiming to extend a 15-game winning run against Trinity, which includes an 18-12 away success in June.

“My 100th game for Cas was against Wakey and now my 150th is against them as well,” Sene-Lefao reflected.

“That’s special in itself. I am buzzing. We take these milestones pretty seriously so when someone has a milestone we try and get a win for them.

“It is always good, these local derbies, I love playing in them.”

Tigers are on the back of away victories against Leeds Rhinos and St Helens, but Trinity also got back to winning ways, after five successive defeats, last Sunday.

Sene-Lefao predicted: “I think they are going to bring their A-game. Them winning against Warrington will bring them a whole load of confidence, but we just need to back up what we’ve done the last two weeks and be consistent, if not better.”

The win at Saints nine days ago was Castleford’s first there in the summer era and has revived hopes of a push into the Betfred Super League play-offs.

“Spirits are high,” Sene-Lefao said. “The town’s buzzing.

“It’s a proud feeling because it’s always hard to beat Saints, but to do it over there was pretty special.”

Of what has changed since Tigers’ poor run of just two wins in 10 games, the former Manly and Cronulla man stressed: “It helps when we get our full squad out there.

“We’ve been playing this year with different halves and different full-backs, but we are getting the same team on the field week-in and week-out, which is pretty cool.”

He added: “Our confidence comes from the work we do at training and stuff.

“In terms of confidence, we’ve always got that.

“It’s just putting it all together as a team, as one, in unity.

“That’s why it was so special, because if it wasn’t for the unity I don’t think we could have got the two points.

Now in the final year of his contract, Sene-Lefao would not comment on whether he will be at Tigers next year.

“I am just really focused on this year, to be honest,” he said. “I’ll let all that stuff sort itself out.”

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