Castleford Tigers boss Lee Radford remains optimistic despite heavy defeat to Super League rivals Warrington Wolves

Having lost their Betfred Super League opener against Salford Red Devils last week, they fell 34-10 at Warrington Wolves as his Wheldon Road predecessor Daryl Powell got the upper hand.

“I’ve not missed this feeling,” said Radford, back coaching for the first time since being sacked by Hull FC in March 2020. “It’s a horrible, horrible feeling. I’d rather have played terribly and had two wins.

“But I thought we were flat last week and we got a response today, at least early on.

“If we continue to turn up with that energy and attitude, we’ll be alright.

“We just ran out of gas with the amount of tackling we had to do and, to add to that, our last tackle plays were poor.”

Alex Sutcliffe ended up in hospital with a throat injury while Castleford also lost fellow second-row Kenny Edwards to a calf injury.

Radford also reported that scrum-half Danny Richardson, injured last week, has been told he has a fractured neck and the club is still awaiting to see how long he will be sidelined.

Powell, who spent almost nine years at Castleford and led them to the 2017 League Leaders’ Shield, was delighted with his side’s display as they backed up Saturday’s win against Leeds Rhinos.

Asked about getting the win against the club he supported as a boy, and took to such great heights, he said: “You don’t want to lose against your old team, especially in your first game against them. But with it being my first at home for me as Warrington Wolves head coach as well I thought it was pivotal.

“I thought we played much better. We started a bit slow defensively but grew into the game and played some real smart rugby league. It was really important for us to win the first home game of the season. I was really pleased.”