Huddersfield Giants despite finishing bottom of Super League lll with only 2 wins were spared relegation as the 1999 season saw the extension of the number of clubs to 14 with Wakefield being promoted and Gateshead Thunder fast tracked, with each club playing 4 loop fixtures to make 30 in all. Once again the season started with the Challenge Cup, Cas entering in Round 4 with a home tie against Hull Sharks. Four players made their debuts for Cas - Michael Eagar, Darren Rogers, Andy Lynch and Aaron Raper, the brother of the head coach. After a close first half Cas led 14-12 at the interval, but ran away in the second half to win 36-22 with 2 tries each from Jason Flowers and Brad Davis, plus single tries from Richard Gay, Danny Orr and Darren Rogers with Ian Tonks kicking 4 conversions. Next up James Pickering and Dale Fritz made their debuts as Cas beat York Wasps at home in Round 5 rather easily 28-2. The first League match of 1999 came up next as Cas welcomed Wakefield before a crowd of 7,223, and in an evenly balanced contest Cas won 12-10. Next up was a Challenge Cup Quarterfinal again at home as Cas beat Salford Reds
30-10 before losing for the first time this season 14-19 at Warrington in a League match. So next on to Headingley for the Challenge Cup against London Broncos where Cas were overwhelming favourites, but seemed to be behind most of the time and eventually lost to a late try 27-33. Cas really ought to have won this match because the Broncos were not that good and were well and trill walloped by Leeds at Wembley
52-16 the highest ever score in the Cup Final. In the League Cas won their next 3 matches Halifax at home 14-10, and both Huddersfield 36-14 and Salford 29-17 away. Cas then welcomed Gateshead Thunder to the Jungle in a televised match and struggled to contain them in the first half and were 4-12 down at the interval Cas rallied in the second half but eventually lost 14-17. Cas were showing some inconsistent form at this stage of the season, as a week later they travelled to Wigan and recorded a magnificent 24-8 victory with tries from Jon Wells, Brad Davis, Lee Harland and Adrian Vowles with 3 goals from Danny Orr and one from Ian Tonks. A couple of draws followed next at home to Bradford Bulls 18-18 and away to London 12-12.
After another draw at home to Leeds 12-12, Cas’s home form really picked up with 8 successive wins, the most noteworthy being against Warrington 39-6, Wigan 33-18 and London 52-16. In fact Cas won 7 of their next 8 matches to seal a playoff place in 5th place with 41 points from their 30 matches. In the Elimination Playoff they stunned 4th placed Wigan again 14-10 with tries for Michael Eager and Adrian Vowles plus 3 Danny Orr goals. That meant a Semifinal 1 match away to 4th placed Leeds which Cas also won 23-16 with tries from Michael Eager, Dale Fritz and Adrian Vowles, with 5 Danny Orr goals and an Aaron Raper Drop Goal. So into the Preliminary Final and away to 2nd placed St Helens, but Cas were swamped 6-36.
St Helens then beat Bradford 8-6 in the Final. Top try scorers for Cas were Darren Rogers 23, Richard Gay and Michael Eager both 19, Francis Maloney 16, Brad Davis 14 and Danny Orr 12 who also scored 97 goals and 2 drop goals for a points total of 244.
History of Rugby League in Castleford
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Sorry, in line 15 it should read ‘were well and truly walloped’ not ‘trill walloped’.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Season 2000 began with some strange shenanigans. Huddersfield Giants who had once more finished bottom the season before avoided relegation once more by merging with Sheffield Eagles to be known as Huddersfield/Sheffield Giants, whilst Hull Sharks who had finished second from bottom merged with Gateshead Thunder to be known as simply Hull FC to reduce Super League V back to 12 clubs, and by adding 6 loop fixtures gave each club 28 League fixtures. Once again the season started with the Challenge Cup and Cas were drawn against the giant killers of the Third Round, the Conference League club Oldham St Anne’s who had beaten Batley Bulldogs 10-0 away. Cas fielded 4 new players in their lineup against the minnows (Dean Ellis, Logan Campbell, Andrew Purcell and Darren Shaw) but were fairly ruthless in their approach to the match scoring 12 tries in a 64-8 win, only to come a cropper in the next round 10-11 at home to Halifax Blue Sox. The first League match was at home to Wigan Warriors before a crowd of 8,812.
Cas then won 4 of their next 5 matches, home wins over London Broncos 16-10 and Hull FC 22-12 plus away wins at Salford 22-16 and Wakefield 22-12. The loss was 12-44 at Bradford, and later defeats at Wigan 16-30
and at home to St Helens 22-32 signified a moderate start. However 3 successive wins against Huddersfield
/Sheffield 26-6 and Salford Reds 30-4 both at home and Warrington 37-26 away meant that Cas had now won 8 of their first 12 League matches, but this was only a prelude to two wins and 2 defeats in the following matches. The 2 wins were at London 26-20 and at Hull 18-4, but the 2 defeats at home attracted the highest crowds of the season. Against Leeds 11,702 watched Cas relinquish an 18-6 halftime lead with tries from Brad Davis, Dean Sampson and Ian Tonks to an 18–20 defeat. Against Bradford though a crowd of 10,015 witnessed Cas being swamped 10-39. Successive home wins against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 16-12
and Halifax 26-12 were followed by defeats at St Helens and at home to Warrington. Another fine crowd of 9,819 turned up for the second home match against Leeds and this time Cas won 20-16 with 2 tries from Jon Wells and one each from Darren Rogers and Brad Davis, plus goals from Danny Orr and Barry Eaton. Despite losing at Halifax Cas ended their League matches with a flourish 30-16 at home to London, 28-14 at Fartown against Huddersfield/Sheffield and 20-8 at home to Wakefield enabling Cas to easily make the playoffs in 5th place for the second year running with 34 points from their 28 matches. Regrettably they were beaten in the Preliminary Final 14-22 at Headingley against Leeds Rhinos this time. Darren Rogers was top try scorer with 20, with Jon Wells and Michael Eager each scoring 14, Brad Davis 11 and Danny Orr scoring 10 to go with his 61 goals. Jamie Benn also kicked 22 goals in this his last season and the average attendance was 7,816 up 1,154 a 17% increase on the previous season.
Cas then won 4 of their next 5 matches, home wins over London Broncos 16-10 and Hull FC 22-12 plus away wins at Salford 22-16 and Wakefield 22-12. The loss was 12-44 at Bradford, and later defeats at Wigan 16-30
and at home to St Helens 22-32 signified a moderate start. However 3 successive wins against Huddersfield
/Sheffield 26-6 and Salford Reds 30-4 both at home and Warrington 37-26 away meant that Cas had now won 8 of their first 12 League matches, but this was only a prelude to two wins and 2 defeats in the following matches. The 2 wins were at London 26-20 and at Hull 18-4, but the 2 defeats at home attracted the highest crowds of the season. Against Leeds 11,702 watched Cas relinquish an 18-6 halftime lead with tries from Brad Davis, Dean Sampson and Ian Tonks to an 18–20 defeat. Against Bradford though a crowd of 10,015 witnessed Cas being swamped 10-39. Successive home wins against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 16-12
and Halifax 26-12 were followed by defeats at St Helens and at home to Warrington. Another fine crowd of 9,819 turned up for the second home match against Leeds and this time Cas won 20-16 with 2 tries from Jon Wells and one each from Darren Rogers and Brad Davis, plus goals from Danny Orr and Barry Eaton. Despite losing at Halifax Cas ended their League matches with a flourish 30-16 at home to London, 28-14 at Fartown against Huddersfield/Sheffield and 20-8 at home to Wakefield enabling Cas to easily make the playoffs in 5th place for the second year running with 34 points from their 28 matches. Regrettably they were beaten in the Preliminary Final 14-22 at Headingley against Leeds Rhinos this time. Darren Rogers was top try scorer with 20, with Jon Wells and Michael Eager each scoring 14, Brad Davis 11 and Danny Orr scoring 10 to go with his 61 goals. Jamie Benn also kicked 22 goals in this his last season and the average attendance was 7,816 up 1,154 a 17% increase on the previous season.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
For the 2001 season Huddersfield Giants dropped their association with Sheffield, otherwise the same 12 clubs constituted Super League Vl. Again the Challenge Cup started the season and Cas entered in the 4th
Round with an 18-4 win at Dewsbury with Graham Steadman taking over as Head Coach and 4 players making their debuts, Mark Lennon, Mitch Healey, Gareth Handford and Jonathon Roper, although the first half was close with Cas’s lead being only 6-4. In the 5th Round Cas were drawn at home to Leeds, but most of the bumper crowd of 11,481 went home disappointed as Cas were humiliated 12-42. The first League match was away to Wakefield and Cas found themselves 0-9 down at the interval but second half tries from a Michael Smith brace and one each from Barrie-Jon Mather and Adrian Vowles with 3 goals from Danny Orr changed things Cas’s way with a 22-17 win. Cas then lost 8-24 at home to Wigan and drew at Hull 18-18 before beating Warrington at home 18-0, then losing at home to Salford 22-24 and 22-32 at Leeds. A 34-24 home win against Halifax followed in which Brad Hepi played in his last match. Aaron Raper played his last match for Cas as they lost at home to Champions elect Bradford 22-24 and then at St Helens 16-36 where both Andy McNally and Andy Speak made their debuts. Cas then scored 9 tries at Huddersfield where Dean Sampson scored a hat trick in a 46-26 win. Two defats followed at home to
London Broncos 12-25 and another anhialation at Wigan 12-54. Cas then showed some form with 4 wins in the next 5 matches including home wins over Wakefield 26-22, Hull FC 33-26 and Leeds before a crowd of 10,625 where Cas having established a 24-6 interval lead hung on to win 28-26. The other win in this sequence was at Salford 26-18. However Cas weren’t showing much consistency and after winning 28-26 at home to St Helens finished the season with 6 successive defeats to finish with 21 points from 28 matches and in 8th position in the League. Jason Flowers left at the end of the season having scored 47 tries in his 194 appearances, but the top try scorers in 2001 were Mlchael Smith and Danny Orr each with 10 with the latter also scoring 60 goals. Once again the average League attendance exceeded 7,500. Bradford Bulls beat Wigan Warriors in the Grand Final 37-6, still the record points win in Super League’s showpiece, whilst Huddersfield Giants were at last relegated with Widnes Vikings promoted for the ensuing season.
Round with an 18-4 win at Dewsbury with Graham Steadman taking over as Head Coach and 4 players making their debuts, Mark Lennon, Mitch Healey, Gareth Handford and Jonathon Roper, although the first half was close with Cas’s lead being only 6-4. In the 5th Round Cas were drawn at home to Leeds, but most of the bumper crowd of 11,481 went home disappointed as Cas were humiliated 12-42. The first League match was away to Wakefield and Cas found themselves 0-9 down at the interval but second half tries from a Michael Smith brace and one each from Barrie-Jon Mather and Adrian Vowles with 3 goals from Danny Orr changed things Cas’s way with a 22-17 win. Cas then lost 8-24 at home to Wigan and drew at Hull 18-18 before beating Warrington at home 18-0, then losing at home to Salford 22-24 and 22-32 at Leeds. A 34-24 home win against Halifax followed in which Brad Hepi played in his last match. Aaron Raper played his last match for Cas as they lost at home to Champions elect Bradford 22-24 and then at St Helens 16-36 where both Andy McNally and Andy Speak made their debuts. Cas then scored 9 tries at Huddersfield where Dean Sampson scored a hat trick in a 46-26 win. Two defats followed at home to
London Broncos 12-25 and another anhialation at Wigan 12-54. Cas then showed some form with 4 wins in the next 5 matches including home wins over Wakefield 26-22, Hull FC 33-26 and Leeds before a crowd of 10,625 where Cas having established a 24-6 interval lead hung on to win 28-26. The other win in this sequence was at Salford 26-18. However Cas weren’t showing much consistency and after winning 28-26 at home to St Helens finished the season with 6 successive defeats to finish with 21 points from 28 matches and in 8th position in the League. Jason Flowers left at the end of the season having scored 47 tries in his 194 appearances, but the top try scorers in 2001 were Mlchael Smith and Danny Orr each with 10 with the latter also scoring 60 goals. Once again the average League attendance exceeded 7,500. Bradford Bulls beat Wigan Warriors in the Grand Final 37-6, still the record points win in Super League’s showpiece, whilst Huddersfield Giants were at last relegated with Widnes Vikings promoted for the ensuing season.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Once again the Challenge Cup took centre stage at the beginning of the 2002 season with Cas entering in the 4th Round with a home fixture against Salford and giving debuts to Andy Johnson, Ryan Hudson and Wayne Bartrim who took over the goalkicking duties from Danny Orr. Cas won 19-6 with Danny Orr scoring a course of tries and one from Michael Smith. Two weeks later Cas beat London Broncos away by the same score as Kyle Warren made his debut. This time Ryan Hudson scored a couple of tries with Richard Gay scoring the other and as in the previous round Wayne Bartrim converted all 3 of the tries. Super League VII started with Cas visiting Wakefield and winning again 28-10 as Andy Johnson opened his account with 2 tries, another from Richard Gay and Wayne Bartrim scoring 2 as well as kicking 4 goals. However a shock awaited in the next League match against newly promoted Widnes at home as Cas found themselves 8-30 behind at the interval. Cas rallied in the second half but too little too late as they lost 24-31. However Cas were lucky with the Cup draw and duly beat Championship side Doncaster Dragons 32-14 at home in the Quarterfinals to set up a Semifinal meeting with Wigan at Headingley. Cas put on a brave display and were only 10-14 behind at the interval but eventually succumbed to a 10-20 defeat. Wigan then beat St Helens 21-12 in the Final at Murrayfield to record their 17th Challenge Cup win. As for Cas their League form had suffered before their Cup exit with an 18-18 draw at home to London, an away defeat at Wigan and a 16-36 battering at home to Leeds before a crowd of 10,017. They made slight amends though at Salford where Olivier Elijah made his debut as they scored 13 tries in a 74-16 win. After the Cup exit though Cas lost 18-48 at Hull and then 8-32 at home to Bradford. At this stage of the season Cas had accumulated only 5 points from 8 matches and then faced the daunting task of facing the League leaders St Helens at home in their next match. At halftime Cas were only 16-18 down, but then put on a stirring second half display to win 36-22 with the 2 tries each from Barrie-Jon Mather and Darren Rogers, with further tries from Ryan Hudson, Andy Johnson and Wayne Bartrim who also kicked 4 goals. However it seemed only a false dawn as Cas won only 2 of their next 7 matches against Warrington 46-24 and Salford 24-2 to slip further down the table. Two away wins at London 24-20 and especially at Leeds 32-24 gave Cas a shot in the arm but an
18-40 reverse at Bradford was a disappointment. However Cas then won 7 of their last 8 matches including wins at Warrington 24-12, Halifax 40-16 and Salford 20-10, plus home wins against Halifax 38-14, Wakefield 44-6, Widnes 32-20 and an outstanding 44-14 win again Champions elect Bradford with tries from Wayne Pryce, Mitch Healey, AndyJohnson, Jon Wells, Barrie-Jon Mather, Lee Harland and Danny Orr who also scored 2 goals with Wayne Bartrim kicking 6, shoved Cas into 6th place with 30 points from 28 matches. In all Cas had only lost 4 times in their final 15 matches, and overall had won half of their 14 away matches. For this season there were 6 playoff places with 3rd place at home to 6th place, so Cas had to face Wigan away in an Elimination Playoff which Cas lost 14-26. St Helens won the League title and beat 2nd placed Bradford 19-18 in the Grand Final. As for Cas Richard Gay played his last game in May, whilst Barrie-Jon Mather retired at the end of the season and Jon Wells signed for Wakefield before spending his final years with London Broncos. Top try scorer for Cas was Darren Rogers with 18, followed by Wayne Pryce with 16, Michael Eager 15, and both Jon Wells and Danny Orr with 13. Wayne Bartrim kicked 115 goals and the average crowd attendance was 6,698. Salford Reds finished bottom and were relegated, whilst Huddersfield Giants replaced them by not only winning 26 and drawing one of their 27 matches, but also beating Leigh Centurions in the Championship Playoff Final.
18-40 reverse at Bradford was a disappointment. However Cas then won 7 of their last 8 matches including wins at Warrington 24-12, Halifax 40-16 and Salford 20-10, plus home wins against Halifax 38-14, Wakefield 44-6, Widnes 32-20 and an outstanding 44-14 win again Champions elect Bradford with tries from Wayne Pryce, Mitch Healey, AndyJohnson, Jon Wells, Barrie-Jon Mather, Lee Harland and Danny Orr who also scored 2 goals with Wayne Bartrim kicking 6, shoved Cas into 6th place with 30 points from 28 matches. In all Cas had only lost 4 times in their final 15 matches, and overall had won half of their 14 away matches. For this season there were 6 playoff places with 3rd place at home to 6th place, so Cas had to face Wigan away in an Elimination Playoff which Cas lost 14-26. St Helens won the League title and beat 2nd placed Bradford 19-18 in the Grand Final. As for Cas Richard Gay played his last game in May, whilst Barrie-Jon Mather retired at the end of the season and Jon Wells signed for Wakefield before spending his final years with London Broncos. Top try scorer for Cas was Darren Rogers with 18, followed by Wayne Pryce with 16, Michael Eager 15, and both Jon Wells and Danny Orr with 13. Wayne Bartrim kicked 115 goals and the average crowd attendance was 6,698. Salford Reds finished bottom and were relegated, whilst Huddersfield Giants replaced them by not only winning 26 and drawing one of their 27 matches, but also beating Leigh Centurions in the Championship Playoff Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Once again I have to apologise for predictive text errors. Line 4 should read ‘couple of tries’, also in line 29 which should read ‘moving Cas into 6th place’.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Season 2003 started again with the Challenge Cup and Castleford’s involvement was short lived as they lost at the first hurdle at Wakefield 18-20 with 3 new debutants (Damian Gibson, Paul Jackson and Jamie
Thackeray), yet when Superleague VIII started Cas made a good start by beating Wigan at home 19-10 with 2 tries from Darren Rogers and one from Wayne Price all converted by Wayne Bartrim plus a Danny Orr
drop goal. They followed this up with a 20-10 win at Halifax, but reality then struck in with a 12-54 mauling at
St Helens compounded by a 14-20 home defeat against Wakefield. A 10-12 interval deficit was reversed in the next home game against London Broncos as Cas fought back to win 24-22. Next up was the home local
derby against Leeds before a crowd of 10,655. Cas made a confident start with an Andy Lynch try and were kept in the game with 5 goals from Wayne Bartrim but a Leeds drop goal settled the match as Cas were beaten 14-15. Undaunted though Cas won 29-16 at Huddersfield after being 12-14 behind at halftime, and another recovery came in the next match at home to Hull FC, as though behind 8-14 at the interval Cas scored 3 second half tries to earn a 26-26 draw. Ben Skerrett made his debut at Odsal where Cas were beaten 10-30, but 3 successive wins against Widnes 40-2 and Huddersfield 32-18 at home and a 32-16 away win at Warrington suggested that Cas might reach the playoffs again proved another false dawn as Cas then lost 4 matches in a row, 3 defeats away to Leeds, Hull FC and Wigan but probably the most telling a 16-28 home defeat against London Broncos. The losing sequence was broken at home to Halifax with a
38-12 win but a high scoring 32-46 home defeat against St Helens seemed to determine that Cas would finish in the lower half of the League. Cas managed to win 32-4 at Wakefield with 2 tries from Wayne Godwin, and single tries from Wayne Price, Darren Rogers, Ryan Hudson and crowd favourite Dale Fritz. However Cas again lost 4 matches in succession, home to Champions elect Bradford 20-40 despite only being 16-18 behind at the interval and Warrington 16-29, plus away defeats at Widnes and St Helens where Andy McNally and Wayne Bartrim made there final appearances. The home clash at home to Leeds broke
that losing sequence as Cas had the game won at halftime with a 24-4 lead and finally winning 28-20. Cas then finished the season by beating Huddersfield at home 26-18, losing 12-32 at Hull, sensationally winning at Bradford 28-14 with tries from Wayne Godwin, Andy Lynch, Tommy Saxton and Danny Orr who also kicked 6 goals, and a 16-23 home defeat to Wigan despite leading 12-6 at halftime. This fixture also proved to be the final appearance for Andy Johnson who signed for Salford, Mark Lennon who returned to Australia, and both Mitch Healey and Dale Fritz who both retired. Cas finished 8th with 25 points from 28 matches. Top try scorers were Wayne Pryce and Danny Orr with 13 each, whilst Wayne Bartrim kicked 56 goals and Danny Orr 33. Bradford Bulls beat Wigan Warriors 25-12 in the Grand Final and Halifax were
relegated to be replaced by Salford in the forthcoming season.
Thackeray), yet when Superleague VIII started Cas made a good start by beating Wigan at home 19-10 with 2 tries from Darren Rogers and one from Wayne Price all converted by Wayne Bartrim plus a Danny Orr
drop goal. They followed this up with a 20-10 win at Halifax, but reality then struck in with a 12-54 mauling at
St Helens compounded by a 14-20 home defeat against Wakefield. A 10-12 interval deficit was reversed in the next home game against London Broncos as Cas fought back to win 24-22. Next up was the home local
derby against Leeds before a crowd of 10,655. Cas made a confident start with an Andy Lynch try and were kept in the game with 5 goals from Wayne Bartrim but a Leeds drop goal settled the match as Cas were beaten 14-15. Undaunted though Cas won 29-16 at Huddersfield after being 12-14 behind at halftime, and another recovery came in the next match at home to Hull FC, as though behind 8-14 at the interval Cas scored 3 second half tries to earn a 26-26 draw. Ben Skerrett made his debut at Odsal where Cas were beaten 10-30, but 3 successive wins against Widnes 40-2 and Huddersfield 32-18 at home and a 32-16 away win at Warrington suggested that Cas might reach the playoffs again proved another false dawn as Cas then lost 4 matches in a row, 3 defeats away to Leeds, Hull FC and Wigan but probably the most telling a 16-28 home defeat against London Broncos. The losing sequence was broken at home to Halifax with a
38-12 win but a high scoring 32-46 home defeat against St Helens seemed to determine that Cas would finish in the lower half of the League. Cas managed to win 32-4 at Wakefield with 2 tries from Wayne Godwin, and single tries from Wayne Price, Darren Rogers, Ryan Hudson and crowd favourite Dale Fritz. However Cas again lost 4 matches in succession, home to Champions elect Bradford 20-40 despite only being 16-18 behind at the interval and Warrington 16-29, plus away defeats at Widnes and St Helens where Andy McNally and Wayne Bartrim made there final appearances. The home clash at home to Leeds broke
that losing sequence as Cas had the game won at halftime with a 24-4 lead and finally winning 28-20. Cas then finished the season by beating Huddersfield at home 26-18, losing 12-32 at Hull, sensationally winning at Bradford 28-14 with tries from Wayne Godwin, Andy Lynch, Tommy Saxton and Danny Orr who also kicked 6 goals, and a 16-23 home defeat to Wigan despite leading 12-6 at halftime. This fixture also proved to be the final appearance for Andy Johnson who signed for Salford, Mark Lennon who returned to Australia, and both Mitch Healey and Dale Fritz who both retired. Cas finished 8th with 25 points from 28 matches. Top try scorers were Wayne Pryce and Danny Orr with 13 each, whilst Wayne Bartrim kicked 56 goals and Danny Orr 33. Bradford Bulls beat Wigan Warriors 25-12 in the Grand Final and Halifax were
relegated to be replaced by Salford in the forthcoming season.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
The previous season saw the restoration of 3 Divisions with the Championship 1 and 2 each having 10 clubs, whilst in Super League 3 clubs, St Helens, Hull FC and Halifax were each deducted 2 points for breaking the salary cap regulations. The 2004 season called Super League IX actually started win League matches. Cas gave debuts to Ryan Clayton, Sean Rudder, Ryan Sheridan and Craig Greenhill for their first match away to Huddersfield but were beaten 22-26. They then entertained Union Treiziste Catalane in the 4th Round of the Challenge Cup and won 32-20. What happened next though was a complete disaster as Cas lost 17 of their next 18 matches including a 5th Round Challenge Cup at Hull. The first 11 League matches were all lost, 6 of which were at home. Suffice to say the home defeats were 8-34 against Leeds before a stunned crowd of
11,731, St Helens 14-22, London Broncos 34-42, Wakefield 10-42, Wigan 28-42 when Byron Smith made his debut and Salford when Cas let an interval lead of 14-8 turn into a 32-36 defeat. The defence was appalling, and although Cas won 12-10 away to London Broncos, 6 more successive defeats followed 3 of which were home losses to HuIl 18-52, Warrington 10-32 and Bradford 12-60, plus away defeats at St Helens,
Salford and Leeds. In fact after 18 matches the statistics showed 1 win, 17 defeats and 657 points conceded, 272 in the last 6 matches. It was the middle of July before Cas were able to win their first win at home, a narrow 24-20 success at home to Huddersfield when Mark Tookey made his debut. Matt Gardner made his debut in a defeat at Wigan, before Cas won a relegation 4 pointer emphatically 42-8 home win against Widnes with 2 tries from Paul Mellor, and one apiece from Brad Davis, Michael Smith, Ryan Hudson, Francis
Maloney, Darren Rogers and Wayne Godwin who also kicked 5 goals. Steve Crouch made his debut in the next match, an 18-39 defeat at Wakefield before Cas won 2 consecutive matches away to Huddersfield
29-12 and home to 3rd placed Hull FC 21–14 in a magnificent performance with tries from Darren Rogers and Damion Gibson with 5 goals from Wayne Godwin, one from Jon Hepworth and a Brad Davis drop goal.
Cas then lost 12-64 at Leeds but there was still hope of avoiding the drop as Cas entertained Salford. Leading 12-6 at the interval Cas eventually lost 22-24, and the only chance Cas were now one point behind Widnes their next opponents away. In atrocious conditions Cas were 0-6 down at halftime but equalised in the second half with a Jon Hepworth try converted by Wayne Godwin. As tensions mounted Francis Maloney then dropped a goal for Cas and they held on to win 7-6. All Cas had to do now was beat Wakefield at home before an expectant crowd of 11,055 and hope that Widnes didn’t win. The scores were level 18-18 at halftime but Cas lost in the end 28-32 and Widnes surprisingly beat Wigan relegating the Tigers. Cas finished with only 6 points from their 28 matches, two fewer than Widnes. Top try scorer for Cas was Paul Mellor with 15 and Wayne Godwin kicked 59 goals, but both players along with Damion Gibson, Darren Rogers, Francis Maloney, Craig Greenhill, Lee Harland, Michael Smith, Nathan Sykes and Mark Tookey were all released at the end of the season as Cas needed to rebuild for life in the National League next season. To tidy up the season, Hull FC beat Leeds 25-24 in the Challenge Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Leeds finished as Champions 9 points ahead of Bradford and also beat them 16-8 in the
Grand Final. Leigh Centurions replaced Cas in Super League, and Keighley were relegated from the National League to be replaced by Barrow.
11,731, St Helens 14-22, London Broncos 34-42, Wakefield 10-42, Wigan 28-42 when Byron Smith made his debut and Salford when Cas let an interval lead of 14-8 turn into a 32-36 defeat. The defence was appalling, and although Cas won 12-10 away to London Broncos, 6 more successive defeats followed 3 of which were home losses to HuIl 18-52, Warrington 10-32 and Bradford 12-60, plus away defeats at St Helens,
Salford and Leeds. In fact after 18 matches the statistics showed 1 win, 17 defeats and 657 points conceded, 272 in the last 6 matches. It was the middle of July before Cas were able to win their first win at home, a narrow 24-20 success at home to Huddersfield when Mark Tookey made his debut. Matt Gardner made his debut in a defeat at Wigan, before Cas won a relegation 4 pointer emphatically 42-8 home win against Widnes with 2 tries from Paul Mellor, and one apiece from Brad Davis, Michael Smith, Ryan Hudson, Francis
Maloney, Darren Rogers and Wayne Godwin who also kicked 5 goals. Steve Crouch made his debut in the next match, an 18-39 defeat at Wakefield before Cas won 2 consecutive matches away to Huddersfield
29-12 and home to 3rd placed Hull FC 21–14 in a magnificent performance with tries from Darren Rogers and Damion Gibson with 5 goals from Wayne Godwin, one from Jon Hepworth and a Brad Davis drop goal.
Cas then lost 12-64 at Leeds but there was still hope of avoiding the drop as Cas entertained Salford. Leading 12-6 at the interval Cas eventually lost 22-24, and the only chance Cas were now one point behind Widnes their next opponents away. In atrocious conditions Cas were 0-6 down at halftime but equalised in the second half with a Jon Hepworth try converted by Wayne Godwin. As tensions mounted Francis Maloney then dropped a goal for Cas and they held on to win 7-6. All Cas had to do now was beat Wakefield at home before an expectant crowd of 11,055 and hope that Widnes didn’t win. The scores were level 18-18 at halftime but Cas lost in the end 28-32 and Widnes surprisingly beat Wigan relegating the Tigers. Cas finished with only 6 points from their 28 matches, two fewer than Widnes. Top try scorer for Cas was Paul Mellor with 15 and Wayne Godwin kicked 59 goals, but both players along with Damion Gibson, Darren Rogers, Francis Maloney, Craig Greenhill, Lee Harland, Michael Smith, Nathan Sykes and Mark Tookey were all released at the end of the season as Cas needed to rebuild for life in the National League next season. To tidy up the season, Hull FC beat Leeds 25-24 in the Challenge Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Leeds finished as Champions 9 points ahead of Bradford and also beat them 16-8 in the
Grand Final. Leigh Centurions replaced Cas in Super League, and Keighley were relegated from the National League to be replaced by Barrow.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Just a couple of typo amendments. Line 3 should read ‘with’ instead of ‘win’, and in line 23 a genuine error as Cas were of course 2 points behind Widnes not 1 point.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
The target for Cas in 2005 was to regain their Super League status. The Northern Rail Cup Group Matches took centre stage for Cas with a host of new players in Michael Platt, Damien Reid, Paul Handforth, Adam Watene, Andrew Henderson, Tommy Haughey, Aaron Smith, Frank Watene, Deon Bird and Leigh Cooke all making their debuts at home to York City Knights in a comprehensive 52-2 win. Cas then beat Featherstone away 22-10, Hunslet 70-0 at home then 34-6 away where Tim Robinson, Anthony England and Michael Knowles made their debuts. Cas entered the Challenge Cup in the 3rd Round with a 72-10 home win against Hull Dockers which was Dean Sampson’s last match. Back to the National Rail Cup Cas won at York 24-16 and then Featherstone at home where a healthy crowd of 7,338 watched Cas win 35-16 to win their group with a 100% record. However Cas needed to replicate that sort of form in the League and they started that campaign with a 29-10 win at Doncaster. Next came a 4th Round Challenge Cup match at Halifax and their first defeat. Back to League matters and Cas beat Rochdale at home 36-22, Oldham away
32-20, Barrow away 36-22 and then one of the danger teams Hull KR at home 32-26 before a crowd of
8,078 with 2 tries from Brad Davis, and one each from Andy Kain, Adam Watene, Michael Shenton and Craig Huby, the latter two who had made their debuts the season before in Super League. Andy Bailey made his debut in the next match a 48–16 win at Halifax, and then Cas faced a tricky tie in the Quarterfinal of the Northern Rail Cup at Featherstone, but Cas easily won 38-14. The next League match was against one of the forerunners Whitehaven and another good crowd of 7,323 watched Cas comfortably win 42-24. The local derby at Featherstone proved to be the toughest League match of the season thus far but Cas prevailed with a narrow 38-34 win before they hosted Whitehaven once more in the Semifinal of the National Rail Cup, but Cas again put the Cumbrians to the sword with a 42-14 win. Back to League action and Cas won their next 2 home matches against Batley 60-12 and Doncaster 40-16. It all seemed to be too easy for Cas with 10 straight League wins and 19 wins in all competitions with only that Challenge Cup defeat at Halifax surprising them. But whether it was complacency or having an eye on the National Rail Cup it’s hard to say, but Cas gave a lethargic display in their next League match at Rochdale and paid the price with a 16-17 defeat. Anyhow the National Rail Final at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool was televised and Cas the favourites lost 16-18 before a crowd of 9,400. Michael Platt and Jon Hepworth scored tries or Cas, but the difference was Craig Huby’s 4 goals compared to Gareth Morton’s 5 for Kingston Rovers. Cas then beat Barrow Raiders 76-12 at home in the League, but suffered a humiliating 18-46 defeat at Craven Park to Hull KR in the next match and then found themselves 0-18 down at Whitehaven at halftime in the next match. Cas did wake up in the second half with 2 Wayne Price tries and another from Andy Kain, but it was too little too late as Cas lost 16-19 and their 4th defeat in 6 matches. However Cas finished their League programme with 3 wins against Halifax 38-34 and Featherstone 40-6 both at home, and 54-12 away to Batley to find 2nd with 30 points from their 18 matches but 2 points behind Whitehaven. This meant an away Qualifying Semifinal away to the Cumbrians where Cas were generally outplayed in a 22-32 defeat. So a week later Cas were engaged in an Elimination Semifinal at home to Halifax who had beaten Hull KR in the previous round. Cas took a 10-2 interval lead, but Fax scored 2 second half tries to make for a nervy finish as Cas won 15-12. The Grand Final at Widnes attracted a full house crowd of 13,300, but this time Cas made no mistake having effectually won the game by halftime with a 26-0 lead and eventually winning
36-8 with 2 tries from Brad Davis, and one each from Damien Blanch, Tommy Haughey, Steve Crouch and Craig Huby who also kicked 3 goals. It was the final match for Jon Hepworth who also kicked a goal, Adam Watene, Frank Watene and Adrian Vowles. Top try scorer was Wayne Pryce with 31, Michael Shenton 24 in his first full season, 18 from Tommy Haughey and 16 from Michael Platt. Craig Huby in his first full season kicked 85 goals and Andy Kain 35. Leigh and Widnes were both relegated from Super League as Catans Dragons were fast tracked into Super League and joined by Castleford of course. St Helens won the League Leaders Shield, but Bradford beat Leeds 15-6 in Super League’s Grand Final. Barrow and Featherstone were relegated from the National League and replaced by Dewsbury and Sheffield.
32-20, Barrow away 36-22 and then one of the danger teams Hull KR at home 32-26 before a crowd of
8,078 with 2 tries from Brad Davis, and one each from Andy Kain, Adam Watene, Michael Shenton and Craig Huby, the latter two who had made their debuts the season before in Super League. Andy Bailey made his debut in the next match a 48–16 win at Halifax, and then Cas faced a tricky tie in the Quarterfinal of the Northern Rail Cup at Featherstone, but Cas easily won 38-14. The next League match was against one of the forerunners Whitehaven and another good crowd of 7,323 watched Cas comfortably win 42-24. The local derby at Featherstone proved to be the toughest League match of the season thus far but Cas prevailed with a narrow 38-34 win before they hosted Whitehaven once more in the Semifinal of the National Rail Cup, but Cas again put the Cumbrians to the sword with a 42-14 win. Back to League action and Cas won their next 2 home matches against Batley 60-12 and Doncaster 40-16. It all seemed to be too easy for Cas with 10 straight League wins and 19 wins in all competitions with only that Challenge Cup defeat at Halifax surprising them. But whether it was complacency or having an eye on the National Rail Cup it’s hard to say, but Cas gave a lethargic display in their next League match at Rochdale and paid the price with a 16-17 defeat. Anyhow the National Rail Final at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool was televised and Cas the favourites lost 16-18 before a crowd of 9,400. Michael Platt and Jon Hepworth scored tries or Cas, but the difference was Craig Huby’s 4 goals compared to Gareth Morton’s 5 for Kingston Rovers. Cas then beat Barrow Raiders 76-12 at home in the League, but suffered a humiliating 18-46 defeat at Craven Park to Hull KR in the next match and then found themselves 0-18 down at Whitehaven at halftime in the next match. Cas did wake up in the second half with 2 Wayne Price tries and another from Andy Kain, but it was too little too late as Cas lost 16-19 and their 4th defeat in 6 matches. However Cas finished their League programme with 3 wins against Halifax 38-34 and Featherstone 40-6 both at home, and 54-12 away to Batley to find 2nd with 30 points from their 18 matches but 2 points behind Whitehaven. This meant an away Qualifying Semifinal away to the Cumbrians where Cas were generally outplayed in a 22-32 defeat. So a week later Cas were engaged in an Elimination Semifinal at home to Halifax who had beaten Hull KR in the previous round. Cas took a 10-2 interval lead, but Fax scored 2 second half tries to make for a nervy finish as Cas won 15-12. The Grand Final at Widnes attracted a full house crowd of 13,300, but this time Cas made no mistake having effectually won the game by halftime with a 26-0 lead and eventually winning
36-8 with 2 tries from Brad Davis, and one each from Damien Blanch, Tommy Haughey, Steve Crouch and Craig Huby who also kicked 3 goals. It was the final match for Jon Hepworth who also kicked a goal, Adam Watene, Frank Watene and Adrian Vowles. Top try scorer was Wayne Pryce with 31, Michael Shenton 24 in his first full season, 18 from Tommy Haughey and 16 from Michael Platt. Craig Huby in his first full season kicked 85 goals and Andy Kain 35. Leigh and Widnes were both relegated from Super League as Catans Dragons were fast tracked into Super League and joined by Castleford of course. St Helens won the League Leaders Shield, but Bradford beat Leeds 15-6 in Super League’s Grand Final. Barrow and Featherstone were relegated from the National League and replaced by Dewsbury and Sheffield.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Line 32 should read ‘Batley to finish second’.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Back into Super League for 2006 with a home match against Hull FC with Terry Matterson as Head Coach, Cas introduced a plethora of debutants - Luke Dyer, Gray Viane, Ryan McGoldrick, Danny Sculthorpe, Danny Nutley, Matt Whitaker, Richard Fa’Aoso, Ben Roarty, Danny Ward and Keith Mason, before a crowd of 10,188 but Cas found the Airlie Birds far to strong for them, and so were St Helens in their first away game as Cas found themselves 0-32 at halftime eventually losing 8-44. However when Catalans Dragons came to town and Cas found themselves 10-22 down at halftime, things really looked desperate. However a magnificent comeback in the second half gave Cas their first win of the season 34-28 with Gray Viane scoring a hat trick of tries. Nevertheless being 8-42 at halftime at Headingley and eventually losing 14-66 was not what the doctor ordered. London Broncos under a new franchise with their Rugby Union partners and changing their name to Harlequins RL were Cas’s next opponents and despite being 16-20 behind in London, Cas rallied in the second half with 3 unanswered tries to record a 34-20 win. Willie Manu made his debut in the home match against Wigan before a crowd of 9,021 but Cas again came back in the second half to win
38-18 with a brace of tries from Wayne Price with further tries from Michael Platt, Paul Handforth, Richard Fa’Aoso and Andy Kain who also kicked 6 goals. Grant Edwards made his debut in the next home match against Huddersfield Giants and once again Cas were behind at the interval 14-22, but this time there was to be no second half recovery as Cas lost 22-36. This is when the rot set in with 6 successive defeats including a 4-14 defeat at Widnes in the Challenge Cup and a massive 6-64 home defeat in the League.
Cas had a capacity for comebacks and then beat Salford City Reds 28-26 at home after being 8-16 down at halftime in a match where Peter Lupton made his debut, and then caused a shock as they won at Wigan 30-24 with 2 tries from Michael Platt, Gray Viane, Brad Davis, Paul Handforth and Willie Manu. Two more defeats followed at home to Catalans 18-40 and at Warrington 28-46 before a 26-26 home draw with Bradford. Cas then signed Danny Brough from Hull before the visit of Huddersfield when he made his debut as Cas won 32-14. Another home win 52-26 over Warrington in which Brough proved his worth by converting 8 of the 9 tries scored kept Cas just above the safety line despite losing against Harlequins which proved to be Wayne Pryce’s final match. Up next were Leeds, and another large crowd of 11,016 saw Cas squeeze out a 31-30 win with 2 tries from Adam Fletcher, and one each from Danny Ward, Michael Shenton and Ryan McGoldrick whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals and a drop goal. Surprisingly Wigan after being penalised 2 points for breaking the salary cap regulations had only won 4 matches up to week 18 and had propped up the table and had looked in danger of relegation, but they won 8 of their last 10 matches and were safe, and as Catalans were immune from relegation it looked likely that Wakefield would be relegated with 6 matches to go and 5 points behind Cas before they appointed ex-Cas player John Kear as their head coach. The meeting between the two teams seemed to be the turning point in the season as Cas lost 0-18 in the home fixture. The following week Cas were humiliated at home by St Helens to the tune of a 4-72 defeat whilst Wakefield beat Catalans. Both Cas and Wakey lost their next matches against Bradford and Leeds respectively. Cas then beat Harlequins at home 27-12 whilst Wakey lost at St Helens to restore a 3 points lead with 2 matches remaining. Even though Cas then lost their penultimate match at Salford it was anticipated that Wakefield would lose at Odsal against Bradford, but in fact Wakey won 20-12 and it all depended on Cas not losing at Belle Vue against Wakefield to preserve their Super League status. However after a tight first half before a sellout crowd of 11,000 Cas lost 17-29 and were relegated with 19 points from 28 matches. It meant another rebuilding job would be required the following season as Michael Platt, Luke Dyer, Danny Scunthorpe, Danny Nutley, Willie Manu, Danny Ward, Richard Fletcher, Deon Bird, Gray Viane, Richard Fa’Aoso and Brad Davis all left, the latter with 358 points in his 141 matches for Cas over 9 seasons with the club. Gray Viane was the top try scorer and Danny Brough who was to continue to play for Cas in the following season, kicked 31 goals in his 10 matches. The damning statistic for Cas was the concession of 968 points in their 28 League matches, an average of over 34 points per match. St Helens finished as League leaders and beat Hull FC in the Grand Final, whilst Hull KR were promoted to Super League for the first time. St Helens completed the Grand Slam by beating Huddersfield Giants 42-12 at Twickenham to win their 10th Challenge Cup Final.
38-18 with a brace of tries from Wayne Price with further tries from Michael Platt, Paul Handforth, Richard Fa’Aoso and Andy Kain who also kicked 6 goals. Grant Edwards made his debut in the next home match against Huddersfield Giants and once again Cas were behind at the interval 14-22, but this time there was to be no second half recovery as Cas lost 22-36. This is when the rot set in with 6 successive defeats including a 4-14 defeat at Widnes in the Challenge Cup and a massive 6-64 home defeat in the League.
Cas had a capacity for comebacks and then beat Salford City Reds 28-26 at home after being 8-16 down at halftime in a match where Peter Lupton made his debut, and then caused a shock as they won at Wigan 30-24 with 2 tries from Michael Platt, Gray Viane, Brad Davis, Paul Handforth and Willie Manu. Two more defeats followed at home to Catalans 18-40 and at Warrington 28-46 before a 26-26 home draw with Bradford. Cas then signed Danny Brough from Hull before the visit of Huddersfield when he made his debut as Cas won 32-14. Another home win 52-26 over Warrington in which Brough proved his worth by converting 8 of the 9 tries scored kept Cas just above the safety line despite losing against Harlequins which proved to be Wayne Pryce’s final match. Up next were Leeds, and another large crowd of 11,016 saw Cas squeeze out a 31-30 win with 2 tries from Adam Fletcher, and one each from Danny Ward, Michael Shenton and Ryan McGoldrick whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals and a drop goal. Surprisingly Wigan after being penalised 2 points for breaking the salary cap regulations had only won 4 matches up to week 18 and had propped up the table and had looked in danger of relegation, but they won 8 of their last 10 matches and were safe, and as Catalans were immune from relegation it looked likely that Wakefield would be relegated with 6 matches to go and 5 points behind Cas before they appointed ex-Cas player John Kear as their head coach. The meeting between the two teams seemed to be the turning point in the season as Cas lost 0-18 in the home fixture. The following week Cas were humiliated at home by St Helens to the tune of a 4-72 defeat whilst Wakefield beat Catalans. Both Cas and Wakey lost their next matches against Bradford and Leeds respectively. Cas then beat Harlequins at home 27-12 whilst Wakey lost at St Helens to restore a 3 points lead with 2 matches remaining. Even though Cas then lost their penultimate match at Salford it was anticipated that Wakefield would lose at Odsal against Bradford, but in fact Wakey won 20-12 and it all depended on Cas not losing at Belle Vue against Wakefield to preserve their Super League status. However after a tight first half before a sellout crowd of 11,000 Cas lost 17-29 and were relegated with 19 points from 28 matches. It meant another rebuilding job would be required the following season as Michael Platt, Luke Dyer, Danny Scunthorpe, Danny Nutley, Willie Manu, Danny Ward, Richard Fletcher, Deon Bird, Gray Viane, Richard Fa’Aoso and Brad Davis all left, the latter with 358 points in his 141 matches for Cas over 9 seasons with the club. Gray Viane was the top try scorer and Danny Brough who was to continue to play for Cas in the following season, kicked 31 goals in his 10 matches. The damning statistic for Cas was the concession of 968 points in their 28 League matches, an average of over 34 points per match. St Helens finished as League leaders and beat Hull FC in the Grand Final, whilst Hull KR were promoted to Super League for the first time. St Helens completed the Grand Slam by beating Huddersfield Giants 42-12 at Twickenham to win their 10th Challenge Cup Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Back into Super League for 2006 with a home match against Hull FC with Terry Matterson as Head Coach, Cas introduced a plethora of debutants - Luke Dyer, Gray Viane, Ryan McGoldrick, Danny Sculthorpe, Danny Nutley, Matt Whitaker, Richard Fa’Aoso, Ben Roarty, Danny Ward and Keith Mason, before a crowd of 10,188 but Cas found the Airlie Birds far to strong for them, and so were St Helens in their first away game as Cas found themselves 0-32 at halftime eventually losing 8-44. However when Catalans Dragons came to town and Cas found themselves 10-22 down at halftime, things really looked desperate. However a magnificent comeback in the second half gave Cas their first win of the season 34-28 with Gray Viane scoring a hat trick of tries. Nevertheless being 8-42 at halftime at Headingley and eventually losing 14-66 was not what the doctor ordered. London Broncos under a new franchise with their Rugby Union partners and changing their name to Harlequins RL were Cas’s next opponents and despite being 16-20 behind in London, Cas rallied in the second half with 3 unanswered tries to record a 34-20 win. Willie Manu made his debut in the home match against Wigan before a crowd of 9,021 but Cas again came back in the second half to win
38-18 with a brace of tries from Wayne Price with further tries from Michael Platt, Paul Handforth, Richard Fa’Aoso and Andy Kain who also kicked 6 goals. Grant Edwards made his debut in the next home match against Huddersfield Giants and once again Cas were behind at the interval 14-22, but this time there was to be no second half recovery as Cas lost 22-36. This is when the rot set in with 6 successive defeats including a 4-14 defeat at Widnes in the Challenge Cup and a massive 6-64 home defeat in the League.
Cas had a capacity for comebacks and then beat Salford City Reds 28-26 at home after being 8-16 down at halftime in a match where Peter Lupton made his debut, and then caused a shock as they won at Wigan 30-24 with 2 tries from Michael Platt, Gray Viane, Brad Davis, Paul Handforth and Willie Manu. Two more defeats followed at home to Catalans 18-40 and at Warrington 28-46 before a 26-26 home draw with Bradford. Cas then signed Danny Brough from Hull before the visit of Huddersfield when he made his debut as Cas won 32-14. Another home win 52-26 over Warrington in which Brough proved his worth by converting 8 of the 9 tries scored kept Cas just above the safety line despite losing against Harlequins which proved to be Wayne Pryce’s final match. Up next were Leeds, and another large crowd of 11,016 saw Cas squeeze out a 31-30 win with 2 tries from Adam Fletcher, and one each from Danny Ward, Michael Shenton and Ryan McGoldrick whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals and a drop goal. Surprisingly Wigan after being penalised 2 points for breaking the salary cap regulations had only won 4 matches up to week 18 and had propped up the table and had looked in danger of relegation, but they won 8 of their last 10 matches and were safe, and as Catalans were immune from relegation it looked likely that Wakefield would be relegated with 6 matches to go and 5 points behind Cas before they appointed ex-Cas player John Kear as their head coach. The meeting between the two teams seemed to be the turning point in the season as Cas lost 0-18 in the home fixture. The following week Cas were humiliated at home by St Helens to the tune of a 4-72 defeat whilst Wakefield beat Catalans. Both Cas and Wakey lost their next matches against Bradford and Leeds respectively. Cas then beat Harlequins at home 27-12 whilst Wakey lost at St Helens to restore a 3 points lead with 2 matches remaining. Even though Cas then lost their penultimate match at Salford it was anticipated that Wakefield would lose at Odsal against Bradford, but in fact Wakey won 20-12 and it all depended on Cas not losing at Belle Vue against Wakefield to preserve their Super League status. However after a tight first half before a sellout crowd of 11,000 Cas lost 17-29 and were relegated with 19 points from 28 matches. It meant another rebuilding job would be required the following season as Michael Platt, Luke Dyer, Danny Scunthorpe, Danny Nutley, Willie Manu, Danny Ward, Richard Fletcher, Deon Bird, Gray Viane, Richard Fa’Aoso and Brad Davis all left, the latter with 358 points in his 141 matches for Cas over 9 seasons with the club. Gray Viane was the top try scorer and Danny Brough who was to continue to play for Cas in the following season, kicked 31 goals in his 10 matches. The damning statistic for Cas was the concession of 968 points in their 28 League matches, an average of over 34 points per match. St Helens finished as League leaders and beat Hull FC in the Grand Final, whilst Hull KR were promoted to Super League for the first time. St Helens completed the Grand Slam by beating Huddersfield Giants 42-12 at Twickenham to win their 10th Challenge Cup Final.
38-18 with a brace of tries from Wayne Price with further tries from Michael Platt, Paul Handforth, Richard Fa’Aoso and Andy Kain who also kicked 6 goals. Grant Edwards made his debut in the next home match against Huddersfield Giants and once again Cas were behind at the interval 14-22, but this time there was to be no second half recovery as Cas lost 22-36. This is when the rot set in with 6 successive defeats including a 4-14 defeat at Widnes in the Challenge Cup and a massive 6-64 home defeat in the League.
Cas had a capacity for comebacks and then beat Salford City Reds 28-26 at home after being 8-16 down at halftime in a match where Peter Lupton made his debut, and then caused a shock as they won at Wigan 30-24 with 2 tries from Michael Platt, Gray Viane, Brad Davis, Paul Handforth and Willie Manu. Two more defeats followed at home to Catalans 18-40 and at Warrington 28-46 before a 26-26 home draw with Bradford. Cas then signed Danny Brough from Hull before the visit of Huddersfield when he made his debut as Cas won 32-14. Another home win 52-26 over Warrington in which Brough proved his worth by converting 8 of the 9 tries scored kept Cas just above the safety line despite losing against Harlequins which proved to be Wayne Pryce’s final match. Up next were Leeds, and another large crowd of 11,016 saw Cas squeeze out a 31-30 win with 2 tries from Adam Fletcher, and one each from Danny Ward, Michael Shenton and Ryan McGoldrick whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals and a drop goal. Surprisingly Wigan after being penalised 2 points for breaking the salary cap regulations had only won 4 matches up to week 18 and had propped up the table and had looked in danger of relegation, but they won 8 of their last 10 matches and were safe, and as Catalans were immune from relegation it looked likely that Wakefield would be relegated with 6 matches to go and 5 points behind Cas before they appointed ex-Cas player John Kear as their head coach. The meeting between the two teams seemed to be the turning point in the season as Cas lost 0-18 in the home fixture. The following week Cas were humiliated at home by St Helens to the tune of a 4-72 defeat whilst Wakefield beat Catalans. Both Cas and Wakey lost their next matches against Bradford and Leeds respectively. Cas then beat Harlequins at home 27-12 whilst Wakey lost at St Helens to restore a 3 points lead with 2 matches remaining. Even though Cas then lost their penultimate match at Salford it was anticipated that Wakefield would lose at Odsal against Bradford, but in fact Wakey won 20-12 and it all depended on Cas not losing at Belle Vue against Wakefield to preserve their Super League status. However after a tight first half before a sellout crowd of 11,000 Cas lost 17-29 and were relegated with 19 points from 28 matches. It meant another rebuilding job would be required the following season as Michael Platt, Luke Dyer, Danny Scunthorpe, Danny Nutley, Willie Manu, Danny Ward, Richard Fletcher, Deon Bird, Gray Viane, Richard Fa’Aoso and Brad Davis all left, the latter with 358 points in his 141 matches for Cas over 9 seasons with the club. Gray Viane was the top try scorer and Danny Brough who was to continue to play for Cas in the following season, kicked 31 goals in his 10 matches. The damning statistic for Cas was the concession of 968 points in their 28 League matches, an average of over 34 points per match. St Helens finished as League leaders and beat Hull FC in the Grand Final, whilst Hull KR were promoted to Super League for the first time. St Helens completed the Grand Slam by beating Huddersfield Giants 42-12 at Twickenham to win their 10th Challenge Cup Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Don’t know why, but Season 2006 has been repeated.
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nottinghamtiger
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Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Back in the National League after only one season although Cas didn’t actually finish bottom, the wooden spoon belonged to Catalans Dragons but they were exempt from relegation. So Cas began the 2007 season with a firm belief that they could put a side together to achieve that belief especially with Danny Brough continuing at half back. As before two years previously the season started with group matches in then Northern Rail Cup. The first match away to Doncaster Lakers included no fewer than 9 debutants, Michael Wainwright, Stuart Donlan, Richard Owen, Liam Higgins, Tere Glassie, Aven Guttenbeil, Dwayne Barker, Mark Leafa, and a fine young prospect from the club’s academy Joe Westerman. Cas had no problem in disposing of the Lakers. Kirk Dixon signed from Hull FC made his debut in the second match, a local derby at home to Featherstone in front of a splendid crowd of 6,871 as Cas found Fev difficult to break down in the first half as the interval lead of 10-8 suggested. But once Cas got into their stride, it became one way traffic as Cas scored 7 further tries including a hat trick from Stuart Donlan and a brace from both Michael Wainwright and Chris Charles. A further 38-12 home win over Sheffield preceded the return match at Featherstone and this match was much closer as Cas won 22-16. Cas were drawn at home to Lock Lane in the 3rd Round of the Challenge Cup giving themselves the opportunity to give 7 more players their
debuts including Nathan Massey and Liam Watts as Cas won 88-10 with Joe Westerman converting 12 of the 16 tries one of which he scored himself. Cas then cemented winning their group in the National Rail Cup with a 44-6 win at Sheffield and a 64-8 home win against Doncaster. Next up was an away tie in the 4th Round of the Challenge Cup against Bradford Bulls, and Cas certainly didn’t disgrace themselves against one of the pacesetters in Super League only losing 16-24 after a fine second half performance. But the main purpose of the season was to regain their Super League place and Cas started well enough with 5 successive wins scoring a plethora of tries especially at home with home wins over Halifax 46-22, Batley
75-12 and Rochdale 56-6, plus Doncaster away 66-4 and Leigh 32-24. In between that sequence of wins Cas also won their Northern Rail Cup Qualifying Quarterfinal match at home to Workington 50-24. However
the big test was the home League match against Widnes and this time Cas failed miserably going down to a 20-44 defeat. Cas then booked their place in the Semifinals of the Northern Rail Cup with a 42-6 win over Leigh. The next League match looked tricky but Cas won at Halifax 30-14 following that with an easy 56-8 home win against Dewsbury and a 27-15 away win at Sheffield. Tom Saxton made his debut at full back in the 12-18 away defeat at Widnes in the Semifinal of the Northern Rail Cup, and it became obvious that the Vikings would be the greatest threat to Cas’s season. However Cas then beat Whitehaven 44-12, Doncaster
66-4 and Sheffield 52-26 all at home, plus away wins at Batley 42-6, Dewsbury 36-10 and Whitehaven 20-12 before facing Widnes away in what turned out to be the title decider. This time Cas got their revenge for their two previous defeats against the Vikings with a narrow 24-18 win. Cas then finished their League programme in a blaze of glory with a 62-10 home win over Leigh then a record breaking 19 try away rout over Rochdale which included hat tricks for Michael Shenton, Andrew Henderson and Danny Williams plus 2 each from Mark Leafa and Danny Brough who also kicked 11 goals in a magnificent 102-0 win. Cas then as League leaders beat Widnes again this time at home in the National Playoff Qualifying Semifinal 26-8 after the interval score was tight at 4-4, the tries coming from Joe Westerman with 2 and one each from Michael Wainwright and Danny Williams, whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals. Widnes reached the Final played at Headingley and before a crowd of 20,814 Cas with a magnificent kicking display from Danny Brough won 42-10 to regain their Super League position. Cas scored 7 tries through Awen Guttenbeil with 2, plus one each from Michael Wainwright, Ryan McGoldrick, Michael Shenton, Joe Westerman and Ryan Clayton whilst
Danny Brough converted 6 of tries and also kicked 2 drop goals. It was to be Danny Brough’s final match for Cas as he had signed for Wakefield for the following season, but in his 35 matches for Cas he had accumulated 358 points. He was top goalscorer for Cas with 122 whilst Kirk Dixon kicked 40 and was also top try scorer with 23. Stuart Donlan scored 20 tries, Michael Shenton 19 and Michael Wainwright 18 as Cas won 17 of their 18 League matches with a total of 860 points. Including all matches Cas scored 1,382 points in 31 matches an average of 44.58 per match. Leeds Rhinos won Super League’s Grand Final 33-6 against St Helens who were League Leaders and also retained the Challenge Cup by beating Catalans Dragons
30-8. Salford were relegated from Super League, whilst Rochdale and Doncaster were relegated from the National League 1 to be replaced by Celtic Crusaders and Featherstone Rovers.
debuts including Nathan Massey and Liam Watts as Cas won 88-10 with Joe Westerman converting 12 of the 16 tries one of which he scored himself. Cas then cemented winning their group in the National Rail Cup with a 44-6 win at Sheffield and a 64-8 home win against Doncaster. Next up was an away tie in the 4th Round of the Challenge Cup against Bradford Bulls, and Cas certainly didn’t disgrace themselves against one of the pacesetters in Super League only losing 16-24 after a fine second half performance. But the main purpose of the season was to regain their Super League place and Cas started well enough with 5 successive wins scoring a plethora of tries especially at home with home wins over Halifax 46-22, Batley
75-12 and Rochdale 56-6, plus Doncaster away 66-4 and Leigh 32-24. In between that sequence of wins Cas also won their Northern Rail Cup Qualifying Quarterfinal match at home to Workington 50-24. However
the big test was the home League match against Widnes and this time Cas failed miserably going down to a 20-44 defeat. Cas then booked their place in the Semifinals of the Northern Rail Cup with a 42-6 win over Leigh. The next League match looked tricky but Cas won at Halifax 30-14 following that with an easy 56-8 home win against Dewsbury and a 27-15 away win at Sheffield. Tom Saxton made his debut at full back in the 12-18 away defeat at Widnes in the Semifinal of the Northern Rail Cup, and it became obvious that the Vikings would be the greatest threat to Cas’s season. However Cas then beat Whitehaven 44-12, Doncaster
66-4 and Sheffield 52-26 all at home, plus away wins at Batley 42-6, Dewsbury 36-10 and Whitehaven 20-12 before facing Widnes away in what turned out to be the title decider. This time Cas got their revenge for their two previous defeats against the Vikings with a narrow 24-18 win. Cas then finished their League programme in a blaze of glory with a 62-10 home win over Leigh then a record breaking 19 try away rout over Rochdale which included hat tricks for Michael Shenton, Andrew Henderson and Danny Williams plus 2 each from Mark Leafa and Danny Brough who also kicked 11 goals in a magnificent 102-0 win. Cas then as League leaders beat Widnes again this time at home in the National Playoff Qualifying Semifinal 26-8 after the interval score was tight at 4-4, the tries coming from Joe Westerman with 2 and one each from Michael Wainwright and Danny Williams, whilst Danny Brough kicked 5 goals. Widnes reached the Final played at Headingley and before a crowd of 20,814 Cas with a magnificent kicking display from Danny Brough won 42-10 to regain their Super League position. Cas scored 7 tries through Awen Guttenbeil with 2, plus one each from Michael Wainwright, Ryan McGoldrick, Michael Shenton, Joe Westerman and Ryan Clayton whilst
Danny Brough converted 6 of tries and also kicked 2 drop goals. It was to be Danny Brough’s final match for Cas as he had signed for Wakefield for the following season, but in his 35 matches for Cas he had accumulated 358 points. He was top goalscorer for Cas with 122 whilst Kirk Dixon kicked 40 and was also top try scorer with 23. Stuart Donlan scored 20 tries, Michael Shenton 19 and Michael Wainwright 18 as Cas won 17 of their 18 League matches with a total of 860 points. Including all matches Cas scored 1,382 points in 31 matches an average of 44.58 per match. Leeds Rhinos won Super League’s Grand Final 33-6 against St Helens who were League Leaders and also retained the Challenge Cup by beating Catalans Dragons
30-8. Salford were relegated from Super League, whilst Rochdale and Doncaster were relegated from the National League 1 to be replaced by Celtic Crusaders and Featherstone Rovers.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Great memories Ken...especially given I played for Lock Lane in that game!!
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Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Hi ken, can you pm me pleaseKen Smith wrote: ↑13 Jul 2019, 23:46 As most of you probably know Rugby League was born at a meeting in the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895 after the northern rugby clubs voted to break away from the Rugby Union over the broken-time payments of expenses because many players couldn’t afford to continue missing work to play a wholly amateur game without some recompense. Initially it was called the Rugby Northern Union comprising 29 clubs. The new format of Rugby League was played in Castleford from 1896 until 1906 but not by the present club. Manningham were the first Champions though there had been 13 different Champions before the present Castleford club were admitted to the League in 1926 with only Oldham, Wigan and Huddersfield becoming Champions more than twice. There were 16 different Challenge Cup winners during that time with only Huddersfield and Leeds winning the trophy more than twice.
As expected Castleford made a poor start in their 1st Season finishing bottom of the League losing all their 18 away matches and winning only 5 of their home matches, the first being 37-25 against Bradford Northern on the 18th September. They did beat Leeds also 10-9 on the 4th December. The following season showed some improvement with Cas finishing 25th and winning twice away from home 15-0 at Bramley and 5-2 at Dewsbury. They actually won 7 home matches as opposed to 6 defeats with 3 drawn. They even reached the 3rd Round of the Challenge Cup beating Salford away 7-3 and Featherstone at home 3-0 before losing to the eventual League Champions Swinton 0-3 at home.
The following season 1928/29 Cas finished 21st with 26 points from their 34 matches. They also reached the Semifinal of the Yorkshire Cup having defeated Keighley 19-4 at home and York away 8-0 before losing at Featherstone 6-10. They also once reached the Semifinal of the Challenge Cup by beating non-league Whitehaven Recreation 31-7 at home, then sensationally League Champions elect Huddersfield 8-0 also at home. They then beat Wigan Highfield 8-0 at home but then lost 3-9 to Dewsbury at Huddersfield. The 1929/30 season though saw Cas drop to 26th with only 22 points from their 36 matches. It was not unusual for clubs to play 3 matches over 4 days at Christmas, and after losing 4-11 at home to Featherstone on Christmas Day, Cas lost 3-7 at Hunslet on Boxing Day, but beat League Champions elect St.Helens 5-0 at home only two days later.
Cas finished 20th in 1930/31 with 30 points from their 38 matches, although they did the double over Featherstone 7-0 at home on Christmas Day where they actually played 3 matches in 3 days, and 22-6 away on Good Friday where they played 3 matches in 4 days. It was certainly a gruelling time for part-time players in those days.The following season Cas finished 22nd with 29 points from their 38 matches losing all their away matches except for a draw at Hull on Easter Monday. On the bright side though Cas only lost 5 home matches and they did once again reach the Quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup beating Featherstone 6-2 at home and St.Helens Recreation 11-8 away. Note that there were two clubs from St.Helens and Wigan in those days. After beating Recreation, Cas beat second placed St.Helens 5-0 at home in a League match, but a week later lost 2-10 at home to Swinton in the Cup.
Now if the first 6 seasons in the League sounds depressing, the next 7 years showed a vast improvement, and I’ll review those tomorrow.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
There was to be a 3 year licence of no relegation at the end of the 2008 season and the Super League was to be extended to 14 clubs. This season was to be known as Super League Xlll and Cas signed 5 new players, Luke Dorn and Michael Korkidas from relegated Salford, Brent Sherwin from Canterbury Bulldogs, Michael Korkidas, Scott Moore on loan from St Helens and Tom Haberecht from Western Suburbs Magpies all of whole made their debuts in the first match of the season at home to Catalans Dragons. However after
leading 12-2 at halftime, it was to be a losing start 14-21. Next up was an away match at Wigan and though
Cas were still in the game at 6-8 down, they eventually lost 16-28. Things got even worse with a 12-64 thumping at Huddersfield followed by 16-22 home defeat to Harlequins. Cas then beat Leeds at home
38-20 before a crowd of 9,459 to get off the mark with 2 tries each from Michael Shenton and Luke Dorn plus one each from Stuart Donlan, Ryan McGoldrick and Joe Westerman who also kicked 5 goals. However 4 more successive defeats at Hull KR 4-20, Wakefield 16-28 and Bradford 4-50, plus a 31-38 home defeat to Warrington placed Cas at rock bottom of the League. Surprisingly Cas then beat St Helens at home
30-24 after before 10-16 behind at the interval with 2 tries from Joe Westerman, and one each from Kirk Dixon, Richard Owenand Luke Dorn. However 5 more successive defeats followed including a Challenge Cup
defeat in London to Harlequins 14-44 and one at the Millennium Stadium In Cardiff against Wakefield 16-54
which was the first inaugural Magic Weekend, though all the magic came from Wakefield in this instance.
The other defeats in this sequence were at home to Hull FC 12-32 and Bradford 24-46, also in Perpignan against Catalans 30-38. Cas broke this losing sequence at Warrington with a 36-28 win, but further away defeats at Hull 14-40 and Leeds 12-18, plus another 16-32 home defeat to Wakefield and a 22-22 home draw with Wigan after leading 14-6 at halftime meant that this looked like being their worst season ever in Super League. However by winning 4 of their final 8 matches saved them from that ignominy. Cas beat Hull KR at home 18-10, then lost 12-68 at St Helens, won away against a weakened Harlequins, lost at home to Huddersfield 14-40 when Mitchell Sargent and Joe Arundel made their debuts, won at Wakefield 48-22 including 2 tries each from Stuart Donlan and Joe Westerman, then lost at Leeds 12-54, beat Warrington at home 44-24 and finally lost at 16-18 home to Bradford in a much improved display when Stuart Donlan, Andrew Henderson, Michael Korkidas, Awen Guttenbeil, Ned Catic, Peter Lupton and Mark Leafa all made their fina appearances. Cas had again finished bottom with only 15 points from their 27 matches and 2 points behind Hull FC. Luke Dorn was the leading try scorer with 19 tries, Michael Shenton and Richard Owen scored 13 and Joe Westerman 12 as well as being second top goalscorer with 28 behind Kirk Dixon with 39. St Helens on the Challenge Cup for the third time in succession beating Hull FC 28-16 and again finished the season top of the League but again lost in the Grand Final to Leeds 16-24. Salford and Celtic Crusaders were both promoted to Super League whilst Gateshead Thunder, Barrow Raiders and Doncaster Lakers were promoted to National League 1 with Dewsbury Rams relegated to National League 2.
leading 12-2 at halftime, it was to be a losing start 14-21. Next up was an away match at Wigan and though
Cas were still in the game at 6-8 down, they eventually lost 16-28. Things got even worse with a 12-64 thumping at Huddersfield followed by 16-22 home defeat to Harlequins. Cas then beat Leeds at home
38-20 before a crowd of 9,459 to get off the mark with 2 tries each from Michael Shenton and Luke Dorn plus one each from Stuart Donlan, Ryan McGoldrick and Joe Westerman who also kicked 5 goals. However 4 more successive defeats at Hull KR 4-20, Wakefield 16-28 and Bradford 4-50, plus a 31-38 home defeat to Warrington placed Cas at rock bottom of the League. Surprisingly Cas then beat St Helens at home
30-24 after before 10-16 behind at the interval with 2 tries from Joe Westerman, and one each from Kirk Dixon, Richard Owenand Luke Dorn. However 5 more successive defeats followed including a Challenge Cup
defeat in London to Harlequins 14-44 and one at the Millennium Stadium In Cardiff against Wakefield 16-54
which was the first inaugural Magic Weekend, though all the magic came from Wakefield in this instance.
The other defeats in this sequence were at home to Hull FC 12-32 and Bradford 24-46, also in Perpignan against Catalans 30-38. Cas broke this losing sequence at Warrington with a 36-28 win, but further away defeats at Hull 14-40 and Leeds 12-18, plus another 16-32 home defeat to Wakefield and a 22-22 home draw with Wigan after leading 14-6 at halftime meant that this looked like being their worst season ever in Super League. However by winning 4 of their final 8 matches saved them from that ignominy. Cas beat Hull KR at home 18-10, then lost 12-68 at St Helens, won away against a weakened Harlequins, lost at home to Huddersfield 14-40 when Mitchell Sargent and Joe Arundel made their debuts, won at Wakefield 48-22 including 2 tries each from Stuart Donlan and Joe Westerman, then lost at Leeds 12-54, beat Warrington at home 44-24 and finally lost at 16-18 home to Bradford in a much improved display when Stuart Donlan, Andrew Henderson, Michael Korkidas, Awen Guttenbeil, Ned Catic, Peter Lupton and Mark Leafa all made their fina appearances. Cas had again finished bottom with only 15 points from their 27 matches and 2 points behind Hull FC. Luke Dorn was the leading try scorer with 19 tries, Michael Shenton and Richard Owen scored 13 and Joe Westerman 12 as well as being second top goalscorer with 28 behind Kirk Dixon with 39. St Helens on the Challenge Cup for the third time in succession beating Hull FC 28-16 and again finished the season top of the League but again lost in the Grand Final to Leeds 16-24. Salford and Celtic Crusaders were both promoted to Super League whilst Gateshead Thunder, Barrow Raiders and Doncaster Lakers were promoted to National League 1 with Dewsbury Rams relegated to National League 2.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Ken, love your posts but a few corrections:
2007 - we beat Rochdale 0-106
2008 - the inaugural “Magic Weekend” was in 2007
2007 - we beat Rochdale 0-106
2008 - the inaugural “Magic Weekend” was in 2007