Super League coaches react as Yorkshire clubs endure miserable round five

Castleford Tigers were the only team from the county to claim a win in round five – and that was their first as they look to put a nightmare opening month behind them.

Huddersfield Giants are Yorkshire's sole representative in the top six of the embryonic table, with the rest losing more than they have won.

Wakefield Trinity are the only side still without a win after suffering golden-point heartbreak at Salford Red Devils.

Mark Applegarth's men ended a points drought that stretched back to round one but could not get over the line.

Marc Sneyd's extra-time drop goal confirmed a 14-13 defeat for struggling Trinity, who must quickly dust themselves down ahead of Friday's visit of Hull KR.

“It stings a bit but I can’t fault them for effort," said Applegarth.

"The boys are trying their hardest. They gave 100 per cent but this was a game that came down to one moment.

“It will sting for a day or two but then we’ll start looking forward to Hull KR.

“I thought we showed a lot of togetherness as a group. I cannot ask for more from the lads.

“There is a strong bond in the group and you can’t ask for any more than that. We want to be getting the wins on the board but you’ve got to stay true to your beliefs and systems."

Rovers have issues of their own as they gear up for a trip to West Yorkshire on the back of a costly 26-12 reverse at the hands of Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.

Already without several key players including Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Matt Parcell, Willie Peters lost Dean Hadley, Jordan Abdull and Frankie Halton to head injuries to make unwanted history.

“It’s not a great record to have – being the first team to have to use their 18th man – but we had four HIAs and we’ll be missing guys next week because of it," said the Hull KR boss.

“We’re the first team to do that but I’m really proud that the players hung in the fight and put themselves in a position to win that game for a long time, and we could have won that game.

“The scoreline ran away from us at the end but some other teams would have been beaten by a lot more than that. We did our best against the odds."

Like their cross-city rivals, Hull FC have lost three in a row since opening the campaign with back-to-back wins.

After conceding 60 points to Salford on home soil in round four, Tony Smith was heartened by his team's performance in the 20-12 defeat at St Helens.

"If we had won and played poorly, it wouldn't have built much confidence, not for me anyway," said the Hull head coach.

"Other people would say we got two points and that's all that matters but what I'd be worried about would be another substandard performance.

"I can take a whole lot from it and I think the players can too. I hope the faithful supporters will as well in terms of we are capable of doing it and we can find that intensity. We just need to find it more regularly on a more consistent basis."

Huddersfield are another team still finding their way after going down 14-12 to Wigan Warriors, their second home loss of the year.

All three Wigan tries came from kicks, with two owing to basic errors to the frustration of Giants boss Ian Watson.

“They’re silly tries and when you look back the players who were involved in them will be upset,” said Watson, whose side lost just once at the John Smith's Stadium during the 2022 regular campaign.

“These kinds of games are won by little moments like that and we have to learn from that and get better going forward.

“Early in the season these are good lessons but at the back end, as it showed in the Challenge Cup final, they can be heartbreaking lessons.

“We need to learn our lessons here and not go away from what we’re good at.

"Doing what we spoke about and what’s in our DNA got us four points up but stepping outside of that cost us. The best teams stay with what they’re doing all the time.”

Leeds Rhinos – the only Yorkshire club to have reached a Grand Final since 2017 – saw their two-match winning run snapped by Castleford.

Rohan Smith's side held a narrow lead at half-time but were kept scoreless in the final 40 minutes.

“We just really failed to get into that second half," said Smith, who confirmed that hooker Kruise Leeming is on his way out of Headingley.

"We made some really fundamental errors that didn’t allow us to get any rhythm.

“It was a hard game and we showed patches of good, solid arm-wrestle footy. But it was one of those nights where it was hard to get out of that hole.”

Castleford will be out to build some much-needed momentum when they welcome Daryl Powell's high-flying Warrington Wolves to Wheldon Road on Friday night.

Interim boss Andy Last said: “I’m just so pleased for this group of players because they’ve had a tough first four games and they’ve faced a fair bit of adversity.

“We left some bloodied and battered bodies out there but they showed how much it means to them to pull on the shirt and play for Cas.”