'String of wins' coming for Castleford Tigers says ex-Leeds Rhinos man ahead of return v Warrington Wolves

The former Leeds Rhinos second-rower suffered knee damage in the early stages of Tigers’ opening pre-season match at Keighley Cougars in January. He is in contention to make his comeback away to Warrington Wolves tomorrow (Friday) and reckons Castleford are in good shape, despite going into Betfred Super League round three on the back of two defeats.

Mellor insisted: “I want to play well for myself, but also for the team. It is a real buy-in this year, a really close-knit group. Craig [Lingard, Castleford’s coach] has led that and brought us together really well. We want to play for each other and we are hoping to get some wins together.”

Tigers finished second from bottom last year, but asked if this feels like a different team, Mellor stressed: “Absolutely. I feel like it’s coming, it is so close. There’s probably just been a few moments in games that have let us down, big momentum swings. If we put that to bed and deal with things better, I think we’ll get a string of wins going.

“Togetherness only gets you so far. We still need to have ice in our veins at certain times and learn how to cope with different situations, which we are doing. We are getting there and I’m sure within the next couple of weeks we’ll start to put some really good performances together.”

Boss Lingard also believes Tigers, who were pipped 26-22 at Salford Red Devils last Sunday after losing to Wigan Warriors in round one, are heading in the right direction. He said: “There’s lots of positives in respect of where we are as a group, with the work rate we’ve got and playing for the full 80 minutes.

“There’s still areas we can improve, which is also a positive because it’s things we can control ourselves. We scored four tries against four at Salford and just a lack of a bit of discipline and composure at times let us down.

“If we can fix those up, we are pretty happy with where the group is in respect of their attitude and working for each other. Hopefully we can start tying all the areas of the game together and get that win sooner rather than later.”

Tigers will face Warrington without winger Jason Qareqare who is facing around two months on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury last Sunday. He played the full game, but will undergo surgery next week.

Half-back Danny Richardson is ruled out after failing a head injury assessment against Salford. Josh Simm is set to take over from Qareqare and Cain Robb, Brad Martin, Albert Vete and Luis Johnson are all vying for a call up, along with Mellor.

Warrington Wolves: from Ashton, Currie, Drinkwater, Dudson, Dufty, Fitzgibbon, Harrison, Hayes, Holroyd, King, Lindop, Musgrove, Philbin, Powell, Ratchford, Thewlis, Vaughan, Walker, Whitehead, M Wood, Wrench.

Castleford Tigers: from Hooley, Simm, Broadbent, S Wood, Senior, Miller, Lawler, El Zakhem, Mellor, Westerman, Horne, Milnes, Putt, Hall, Mustapha, Tasipale, Robb, Martin, Kibula, Vete, Johnson.

Referee: Aaron Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.