Wakefield hammer Castleford 48-6 win strengthen Super League play off push
Cameron Scott, Tom Johnstone and Caleb Hamlin-Uele each helped themselves to a brace in an emphatic nine-try romp against Ryan Carr’s beleaguered Tigers.
Wakefield cemented their place in the Betfred Super League play-off picture after a crushing 48-6 win over West Yorkshire rivals Castleford on the second day of action at Magic Weekend.
Cameron Scott, Tom Johnstone and Caleb Hamlin-Uele each helped themselves to a brace in an emphatic nine-try romp against Ryan Carr’s beleaguered Tigers.
Brilliant Trinity never relented from the moment Scott collected a bobbling kick from Jake Trueman and opened his side’s account with just three minutes on the clock.
Castleford, for whom shocking inconsistency has been a major frustration all season, were simply not up for the fight and it could have been worse as Scott and Will Tate had further tries ruled out in the first 10 minutes.
Johnstone finally made it two off a pass from Josh Rourke in the 17th minute, and Hamlin-Uele barged through the flat-footed Castleford rearguard before Scott sliced over for his second to make it 20-0 at the break.
Carr’s half-time team-talk made no significant difference as Wakefield continued in the same vein after the interval, Lachlan Walmsley diving over acrobatically off a flicked pass from Scott, then Tyson Smoothy crossing for their sixth.
Further tries from Hamlin-Uele and Johnstone bolstered Wakefield’s tally before Rourke crossed for their ninth and final try with five minutes remaining – duly converted by Jack Sinfield, who would contribute 12 points with the boot.
Woeful Castleford finally broke their duck in the dying stages when Jason Qareqare, who had an earlier effort ruled out for a knock-on, went over in the corner. Tom Weaver’s consolation could not spare the embarrassment.
Castleford head coach Carr was scathing of his side’s performance, insisting: “Certain individuals when it got hard just gave up – I know who they are and they won’t continue.
“We’re very fortunate as rugby league people to do what we love for a living. When adversity’s there you’ve got to be able to fight through it. You never really know who the fighters are and who aren’t until you get put into it, and sometimes you learn the hard way.”
Delighted Wakefield boss Daryl Powell said: “I thought we were excellent. I thought we started great, and with the ball we looked sharp and executed pretty well.
“We’ve got Hull KR next week and it’s those sorts of challenges that I want us to approach in a way that stands us out as a team that can be really threatening and challenging come the end of the season.”