Andy Last has looked ahead to tonight’s clash against Castleford Tigers, and explained that his side can defeat Daryl Powell’s men by matching their energy, and kicking the ball well at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
The Black & Whites are aiming to return to winning ways this evening in West Yorkshire having gone down to Salford last weekend, but Last explained that his side took positives from the defeat.
But crucially, he said his side must remove the errors from their game as they face the Tigers once again after the Challenge Cup meeting last month.
“The review was quite honest, and there were aspects of the performance which were really good. The manner in which we scored our points was great.
“We played some good attacking shapes and created some opportunities, but in those key moments when the pressure was on and the scoreboard was balanced, we didn’t come up with the right plays at the right time. So we have spoke about playing about with the same energy and desire, just finding those right plays and eradicate those errors.”
Explaining the key to defeating the Tigers, Last continued: “You beat Castleford by matching their energy.
“Their kicking game is very good and they have a great way of playing on their home ground which really gives them an advantage – they have always had great home form and they know the surroundings well.
“We need to make sure we are squeaky clean out of yardage, and we kick the ball well. With it being a shorter pitch, we need to ensure our attacking shapes are run with conviction when we get into their end of the field.
“If we can expose some of the vulnerabilities we saw form them in the cup, we’ll have a chance.”
Last also spoke on the absence of Danny Houghton and Josh Griffin, both of which have dropped out of the 21-man squad for this week’s game.
“Danny picked up a nasty ankle injury from the Luke Yates tackle which he has subsequently banned for, so he will miss a couple of weeks.
“That will give him chance to get ready for that Huddersfield match in two weeks time, after which we have a really tough schedule in the latter stages of October.
“We have an able deputy in the form of Jordan Johnstone and it made sense not to risk Danny.
He added: “Josh has jammed his back which aggravated a disk issue off a contact from Kallum Watkins which he got in the later stages of the game. It hasn’t responded to the treatment the way we liked it too so we’ve sat him out for this week.”
On the return of Scott Taylor, Last said: “It is a big boost to have Scott back. It is the longest he has not played rugby since he was six years old so he’s really excited about being back. He has brought a great energy to our training so hopefully we’ll get the best out of him.
“When he is at his best, he is a great Super League front-rower so it would be great to get him back to his best form.”
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