T : Paul McShane, Greg Eden 2
G : Paul McShane 4
Catalans Dragons (0) 4
T : Lewis Tierney
G :
Match gallery from official website here.
So amongst the #newbeginnings escaped ferrets and snow, a game of rugby league broke out here between two of the sides expected to make a dent in the upper reaches of the Superleague in 2019.
I will admit to being cynical and expecting Dragons to lose by more on the basis of (1) it was cold and (2) it was away from home.
However from my spies at the game and the highlights above it was clear that this wasn't quite the steamrollering we usually get in these opening rounds a long way from home.
The game was preambled by Sam Tomkins comments about visiting Cas and whilst I think they were taken out of context so whilst I understand what he was trying to say (It was supposed to be a compliment of sorts!), it fired up the home fans.
To some extent it detracted from Samkins debut and he will look at the Greg Eden try where he was beaten for pace on the outside as an area to work on.
Dragons will have definitely missed Greg Bird and that experience was shown in a number of key areas of the match at important points.
In the style of Catalans of old, were were too far behind before starting to rally, although it's encouraging to see us trying to move the point of attack from centres to edges to wings. I hope that's a foresight into the coming season and a desire to entertain a bit more than some of the fayre we endured in 2018.
I am not surprised that we lost the game. Castleford are one of the best sides at home, but its clear there are things to work on and improvements to be made.