Veteran centre Jake Webster grabbed four tries tries to help Castleford claim their place in history.
The 33-year-old former New Zealand international was among a host of heroes as the Tigers lifted the League Leaders’ Shield for the first time in the club’s 91-year history.
Congratulations @CTRLFC! ????
Your 2017 League Leaders’ Shield Winners pic.twitter.com/YjfVy5diFQ
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) August 17, 2017
An ultimately comfortable 45-20 victory over neighbours Wakefield in front of a near-capacity 11,235 crowd at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle enabled Castleford to get their hands on the elusive trophy with four games to spare.
What they said
“It’s just an awesome feeling. It’s a good news story for rugby league. I think everybody thinks we’ve got this and that’s it but it’s not. We’ll celebrate this and we’ll move on. We’ve got Huddersfield next up and, when the time comes, we’ll be really prepared to take them on.”
“Credit to Cas they have been fantastic all season. They caused us a lot of problems on our left edge which we need to fix it.”
Tweet of the match
Congrats to @CTRLFC !!????????…by far the best team throughout the regular season???????? #classycas
— Paul Sculthorpe MBE (@PScully13) August 17, 2017
– former St Helens and Great Britain forward Paul Sculthorpe
Star man
70: TRY CAS!! IT’S 4 FOR WEBBO!! He takes McMeeken’s offload and rolls over the line!! pic.twitter.com/j0pvyvECXd
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) August 17, 2017
England duo Zak Hardaker and Mike McMeeken caught the eye, but, with four of his side’s eight tries, barnstorming centre Webster was an obvious choice as man of the match.
Key moment
43: Miller looks to find BJB with his kick but the ball goes to ground and rolls into touch.
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) August 17, 2017
Castleford were clinging to a tenuous 18-16 lead early in the second half when Wakefield winger Ben Jones-Bishop attempted to intercept Luke Gale’s cut-out pass but missed the ball and winger Greg Eden gratefully accepted the chance to score his 35th Super League try of the season to put his side on their way to victory.
How they rated
What’s up next?
Super 8s: Huddersfield v Castleford, Friday, September 1.
Super 8s: Salford v Wakefield, Friday, September 1.
