Castleford Tigers 36 Leeds Rhinos 34

Two tries from Jason Qareqare led a fightback for Castleford Tigers as Leeds Rhinos suffered a 36-34 defeat at The OneBore Stadium in round 19 of the Betfred Super League.

After holding a 16-0 lead inside 20 minutes, a serious injury to Danny Levi saw the Rhinos drawn into a tight arm-wrestle with their Yorkshire rivals, which inevitably ended in a first defeat since the trip to Wigan.

Injuries in the Rhinos camp forced head coach Brad Arthur to make changes in the notable absences of captain Ash Handley and hard-hitting hooker Jarrod O’Connor. With Handley sidelined following acute appendicitis and O’Connor on the return-to-play protocol following a concussion against Catalans, the Tigers clash opened an opportunity for Jack Bird to play his first Super League minutes since May’s win over Wakefield at AMT Headingley. He was joined in the outside backs corps alongside Alfie Edgell, who marked his first minutes of the season following a thigh injury suffered on Boxing Day, and both players got a good reception on their return to the team.

Keenan Palasia’s long-term foot injury saw Tom Nicholson-Watton come onto the bench for only his third game of the year. A leader in what’s been a largely successful season with the club’s Reserves, the prop faced off against a Tigers side that he featured for on a short-term loan spell earlier in the campaign. The day was also special for another forward as James McDonnell marked his 100th Super League game by running out for the Rhinos.

With the sun beating down on The OneBore Stadium, Leeds looked to set their tone inside of two minutes with the first try of the game. A well-worked set from behind their own goal line saw James McDonnell and Danny Levi link up for a pivotal break early in the set, before a decision to run the ball on the last tackle saw McDonnell break the tackle of Alex Mellor and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e to barrel over for the opening try.

Despite missing the conversion, Connor slotted a penalty goal minutes later as the Tigers were caught offside – although there was an argument that the Rhinos could have pushed for another try after Jason Qareqare was unable to take in Jake Connor’s high kick on the set prior. Nevertheless, more ill discipline from Ryan Carr’s side put the Rhinos back on the Tigers' try line, and after Levi and Cameron Smith both came up short, great handling by Croft, Miller and McDonnell put Alfie Edgell over for his first try on his return to action.

A first true attacking set for Castleford saw Laulu-Togaga’e come the closest a breaking the Leeds defence, but a poor last tackle saw McDonnell charge down Daejarn Asi’s kick ahead and the second rower reacted quickest to grab the ball and offload for Brodie Croft to race the length of the field for a spectacular try. Connor couldn’t convert, but Leeds had a healthy lead at 16-0 after 18 minutes.

Following the hydration break, Castleford mustered their first points of the afternoon through Mikaele Ravalawa. Leeds had started to become susceptible to the Tigers’ offload game, and it proved pivotal in allowing the returning Tom Weaver to open up the right edge to put Ravalawa over for his second try against the Rhinos in 2026. An almost immediate response from Leeds’ own powerhouse edge-man Maika Sivo quickly rebalanced the scoreline – the winger taking Weaver’s last tackle kick before stepping around Ravalawa and fending off Weaver to take the ball to the opposite end of the field for a wonderful solo try.

Castleford kept the pressure on as a break by Weaver saw the half-back break into the backfield before Miller was able to stop him in his tracks. With Tigers now camped down on the Leeds line, the Rhinos suffered a major blow as Levi was left on the floor following a tackle on Tyler Dupree. A delayed stoppage to treat the hooker saw the game stopped for over 15 minutes, and with Levi safely taken from the field by both medical teams, Tom Nicholson-Watton took up the hooking role for the remainder of the game.

The break worked in favour of the home side as they managed to close the score line to four points at the break with two quick tries. Ash Golding was posted through a hole by Asi to find his way to the try line to close the scoreline to ten points, before a high tackle from Hankinson handed another chance for points and Jason Qareqare took full advantage in the corner as the sides headed into the break with the score 20-14 in favour of the visitors.

Eager to suppress any chance of Castleford’s momentum transferring into the second half, two tries from Leeds got the Rhinos their breathing room back at 30-16. A quick Tom Holroyd try got Leeds on the front foot again, after Sivo was almost set away from short range by Jack Bird. On the next set, the Rhinos were clinical again as Bird swept across the Castleford defence before feeding Croft, who put McDonnell in for his second of the game. Connor was successful with one of two conversions.

A major opportunity, which was left to be rued at full time, was missed when Connor’s last tackle kick was taken by Miller, but the full back’s pass for Cassell wasn’t taken by the forward with the try line in his sight. Croft was also denied on a similar incident as the half back took in Connor’s kick but couldn’t find the try line.

The Tigers remained in the fight even with the scoreboard against them. Aided downfield by a ruck infringement penalty, Asi found the chink in Leeds’ armour as the half-back pushed through three Leeds defenders to get the ball down. The Rhinos aimed a response after Jack Ashworth dropped an Atoni pass to set Miller away on a counter-attack. Offloading for Sivo to continue the break, Bird was unlucky to be tackled short of the line and after Sivo tried a cheeky drive for the line himself, the Rhinos thought they found a third try of the half with Edgell, but the play was called back by referee Liam Rush for a forward pass in the buildup.

Transitioning into attack, the home side utilised a break by Qareqare round the outside of Edgell to their advantage as Ashworth worked his way through the Leeds defence to score his second try of the season.

Heading into the final 15 minutes, a no-try call against Qareqare was crucial as the Tigers were denied their first lead of the game for an obstruction in the build-up. A late hit by Oledzki was penalised by referee Rush, and Weaver converted to lock the game up at 30-30, before a successful captain's challenge for a ball steal on Ashworth was converted with a try as Qareqare ran in at the corner to give Castleford the lead once again.

Leeds rallied with a great defensive set off the back of conceding and got their rewards with a second Croft try. Off the back of a McDonnell drive, the Rhinos ran a right side play with Croft, who ghosted his way through to touch down. Connor couldn’t convert as the score remained in favour of Castleford by two points.

Leeds kept the pressure on but just couldn’t find the vital finish. A promising attack that could have fed Sivo ended when Bird was unable to hold onto Miller’s final pass. The Leeds full back also came up with an uncharacteristic error in the final minute as the Tigers held on to win.

Teams

Tigers

35. Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, 5. Mikaele Ravalawa, 2. Semi Valemei, 12. Alex Mellor, 22. Jason Qareqare, 6. Daejarn Asi, 7. Tom Weaver, 36. Tyler Dupree, 9. Liam Hood, 10. George Lawler, 31. Ashton Golding, 39. Jack Brown, 13. Joe Stimson

Subs: 8. Renouf Atoni, 15. Jack Ashworth, 25. Sam Hall, 27. Cain Robb (18th Man: 24. Jenson Windley)

Tries: Ravalawa (24), Golding (34), Qareqare (39, 70), Asi (57), Ashworth (63)

Goals: Weaver 5/6

Penalty Goal: Weaver 1/1

Rhinos

1. Lachie Miller, 2. Maika Sivo, 33. Jack Bird, 3. Harry Newman, 21. Alfie Edgell, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Jake Connor, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 23. Danny Levi, 15. Cooper Jenkins, 14. Chris Hankinson, 12. James McDonnell, 17. Cameron Smith

Subs: 10. Tom Holroyd, 11. Kallum Watkins, 20. Presley Cassell, 26. Tom Nicholson-Watton (18th Man – 25. Ben Littlewood)

Tries: McDonnell (2, 47), Edgell (13), Croft (16, 74), Sivo (23), Holroyd (42)

Goals: Connor 2/7

Penalty Goals: Connor 1/1