Huddersfield Giants will be guaranteed the support of every Castleford Tigers supporter tonight.
The second-placed Tigers head into the final weekend over the regular season knowing they could finish top and claim the Super League Leaders’ Shield for the first time.
But for that to happen, the Giants need to beat leaders St Helens at the John Smith’s Stadium tonight and then Castleford have to win at Catalan Dragons tomorrow.
This scenario would help soften the blow for the Castleford faithful, who this week gained confirmation their leading prop Craig Huby will be joining the Giants next season.
Huddersfield also continue to be linked with Castleford half-back or hooker Jamie Ellis, who the club have now announced will be leaving at the end of the season, along with Daryl Clark, Weller Hauraki, Lee Gilmour and Dan Fleming, whose moves were confirmed earlier in the year.
And Giants newly-crowned Player of the Year Joe Wardle admits it’ll be good to know it won’t just be the claret and gold faithful rooting for Huddersfield tonight.
“It’ll be good to have that extra support tonight,” said Wardle.
“In fact, I’m sure the Castleford fans will be cheering for us almost as much as our own fans tonight!
“Obviously, the only reason we want to beat Saints is to make sure we finish in the top four.
“But it would be good to think we could make the Cas fans happy, because that would mean we’d got the job done ourselves.”
Huby’s four-year Giants deal was confirmed the day before the Giants-Saints clash, while the Tigers have themselves confirmed they have completed their new-look squad for 2015 with the signing of London Broncos duo Scott Moore and Mike McMeeken.
Coach Daryl Powell is delighted to have welcomed the pair on board, but has admitted he’s disappointed to have lost the 28-year-old Huby.
“Craig has been a huge servant to the Tigers for over a decade and while I am disappointed he has decided to leave I understand his reasons for looking for a new challenge,” said Powell.
“As a club, we did all we could to persuade Craig to stay, including a long-term contract offer. I know Craig will continue to perform superbly for the remainder of the season as he has done throughout his time at the club.
“At the same time, it’s good to welcome Scott Moore and Mike McMeeken to the club.
“Scott will be a crucial addition to our squad for next year. I am confident he will along with Adam Milner give us creative options at hooker and his experience will be invaluable.
“He was an international squad player not too long ago. He is creative and tough with good leadership qualities and he will be a big part of our pack for next season.
“Mike is a big robust back rower who I am confident has a big future in the game. He is also very young with a great desire to be successful which are both key qualities. He was very good against us in both games this season with his strong ball running and offload game.”
Castleford have also signed Bradford scrum-half Luke Gale and Melbourne Storm pair Junior Moors and Ben Roberts and have handed contract extensions to homegrown winger James Clare and Australian forward Grant Millington.
Clare’s new deal will keep him at the club to the end of 2016 with an option for a further two years, while Millington is now contracted to the end of 2018.
