Castleford Tigers 21 Warrington Wolves 12, Guardian Verdict

Fast forward a little more than 12 months and we are still talking about a loss, but this one felt altogether different.

A lot has been said during this longest of pre-seasons about how things would be different this time.

There is, of course, plenty of time for that to be the case but this return to competitive action felt achingly familiar for Wire supporters.

If this was a day to reduce the scepticism of many who believe not much to have changed, there was not much on show to achieve that.

Joe Philbin is tackled by Paul McShane and Nathan Massey. Picture by SWPix.com

First and foremost, credit has to go to Castleford Tigers.

They were without first-choice scrum-half Danny Richardson and lost stand-in Gareth O’Brien early on, but they belied their slightly makeshift look.

They were quick, powerful, incisive and disciplined – pretty much everything the team across the field from them weren’t.

Steve Price plumped for youth over experience as Connor Wrench edged out Jake Mamo for the right centre spot earmarked for Greg Inglis.

Unfortunately, he and his right edge partners were tortured by Jake Trueman and Niall Evalds, who time and time again found holes, created overlaps and caused chaos with accurate kicks.

Josh Charnley had a game to forget, failing three times to clear up a Trueman kick to allow Oliver Holmes in for a try that gave Castleford the advantage after just four minutes – one they would not relinquish.

Josh Charnley lies helpless in the background having failed to stop Jordan Turner from scoring. Picture by SWPix.com

The Wire were often caught too wide at the ruck, allowing their opponents to gain easy metres too often for a side that prides itself on defence.

With the ball, signs were promising in the pre-season win over Leigh last week but this was a case of one step forward, two steps back.

Their plays were easy to telegraph and aside from the tries they scored, it is difficult to remember a time when they put their rivals under real pressure.

They tried in the early stages of the second half as they came out with renewed vigour, but their efforts were punctuated by the concession of needless penalties.

Daryl Clark added punch off the bench, Gareth Widdop tried to find a spark and Robbie Mulhern’s debut was encouraging but aside from that, reason for optimism was scarce.

Daryl Clark was a rare bright spark as he scored a superb second-half try. Picture by SWPix.com

Will the likes of Wigan and St Helens be in any way worried by this performance? Absolutely not.

The saying goes that it is about how you finish not how you start and that is true – it is only Round One and if there was a time for this kind of display, anyone of a primrose and blue persuasion would rather it came now.

And that is perhaps the biggest victory Warrington can take out of this game, that there is plenty of time for improvement.

Based on this, though, there is a lot to do.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Wire lose their opening fixture for the third time in four seasons under Steve Price

. The fourth time Warrington and Castleford have met each other in the opening round of the season

. Robbie Mulhern makes his Wire debut

MATCH FACTS:

Super League, Round One

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Castleford Tigers...21 Warrington Wolves...12

Tigers: Niall Evalds; Derrell Olpherts, Peter Mata'utia, Michael Shenton, Jordan Turner; Jake Trueman, Gareth O'Brien; Grant Millington, Paul McShane, George Griffin, Oliver Holmes, Cheyse Blair, Nathan Massey. Subs: Liam Watts, Adam Milner, Jacques O'Neill, Daniel Smith

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Josh Charnley, Connor Wrench, Toby King, Tom Lineham; Blake Austin, Gareth Widdop; Chris Hill, Danny Walker, Mike Cooper, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Joe Philbin. Subs: Jason Clark, Daryl Clark, Robbie Mulhern, Matty Ashton

Scoring: Holmes try, 4mins, O'Brien goal, 6-0; King try, 7mins, 6-4; Evalds try, 29mins, 10-4; Turner try, 39mins, 14-4; D Clark try, 51mins, 14-8; Turner try, 56mins, McShane goal, 20-8; McShane drop goal, 71mins, 21-8; Austin try, 75mins, 21-12

Penalties: Tigers 6 Wolves 4

Referee: Chris Kendall

Top Man: VOTE HERE