Watch the Super League play-offs live and exclusive on Sky Sports
Thursday 26 September 2019 16:00, UK
Starting this week, Kevin Brown is writing an exclusive column for Sky Sports for the duration of the Super League play-offs.
First up, the England and Warrington Wolves half-back looks back on the opening round of the play-offs and the key battles to look out for in this week's matches.
Brown also tells us why he has decided to join Salford Red Devils next season and gives his views on Toronto Wolfpack's efforts to win promotion to Super League...
I was in the Sky Sports studio for last Thursday's elimination play-off at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and it was an untypical Castleford-like win as they overcame Warrington 14-12.
They normally throw the ball around and beat you with their attack, but I though their resolve and the desperation they showed - scrambling defence and try-saving tackles by Chris Clarkson - to save that game was unbelievable.
That's what head coach Daryl Powell alluded to after the game - it was built on courageous efforts. They had several players missing, a few players out of position, a few young lads and it was all hands on deck, but they just wanted it more on the night.
Everyone who spoke about potential Grand Final winners and finalists didn't speak about Castleford. They limped into the play-offs via Hull FC losing on the last night of the regular season, but internally they know they'll have to replicate what they did at Warrington away to Salford on Thursday.
It's going to be backs-against-the-wall again this week. Everyone expects the Red Devils to win after such good performances of late, but the Tigers will definitely be there or thereabouts and really test Salford.
You can't write Castleford off with not only the coach they've got, but the players they've got as well.
From a Warrington point of view, it's been a really disappointing end to the season and Super League campaign since probably halfway through. It's been a really poor return from that last period.
A lot of the players who have been playing week in, week out were performing a lot better at the start of the season and I know we didn't rotate our squad as much as some other teams.
St Helens learned their lessons from last year and although they took a couple of losses, they were in the luxurious position of being top of the table and being able to afford to lose a couple of games and rest players.
We didn't have that luxury; we went straight through the Challenge Cup campaign and there was euphoria from winning that, but we never really recovered. I think it's taken a lot more out of us than we thought it would, and I think mental and physical fatigue has caught up with us a bit.
The bottom line is, though, Warrington won't be happy with winning the Cup and limping out of the play-offs at the first hurdle, especially at home.
I'm sure there are going to be a lot of things looked at - not just fatigue, but the way we're training and personnel because for such a club and that roster, they've got bigger aspirations than falling at the end of the year.
It was a complete contrast the following night in the qualifying play-off at the DW Stadium, but I just thought Wigan Warriors' defence was resilient and probably the best I've seen under Adrian Lam as they held on to deny Salford with an 18-12 win.
Head coach Lam spoke about the flamboyant style they were going to play and it was the opposite. It was the DNA they got under Michael Maguire and ground into them with Shaun Wane which won them that game.
Morgan Smithies, Wigan's 18-year-old back row, made 72 tackles that night as well, which is an unbelievable statistic. It's an insane achievement by him to put such a stint in and that's what they're going to need moving forward against St Helens this Friday.
It's probably the best preparation you can have going into that game, having such a test against Salford.
I saw Jackson Hastings' game against Hull KR in the final round of Super League's regular season and I was watching him quite closely because I have a massive admiration for him being the half-back and doing what he's doing.
The amount of carries he is taking in a game is unbelievable. He's done nearly 100 carries more through the season than any other player in the league - and come up with 36 try-assists and eight tries as well, so he's not just doing the quality but coming up with the quantity at the end as well.
When you look at a player and say he's doing everything, he really is.
But there was the controversial moment right at the end with him and Tony Clubb which really affected Salford, and I think that's something Castleford will see.
Not in a malicious way, but in a way that if they can control Jackson Hastings and snub his game out because he is so influential, that will go a massive long way to winning that game for them.
You may have seen last week I confirmed I will be joining Salford for next season and I'm massively excited by the fact I'm going to play under Ian Watson.
He's a coach who has done his apprenticeship in the lower grades and been given his chance, and it's plain to see every player who goes there seems to improve.
Look at players like Lee Mossop and Joey Lussick. Even Jackson Hastings said he's one of the best coaches he's had and he's had some great coaches in the NRL.
I've not bought into replacing Hastings, who is moving to Wigan. With Robert Lui going earlier this season and Tui Lolohea coming in, both half-backs have changed and there will be a few more changes, so I want to contribute to the team the best I can.
I'm really excited because I've been out for eight months due to injury and then had a few games on loan at Leigh Centurions, and my Achilles is feeling good. I'm really looking forward it, it's exciting they're doing well this year and I want to add to that.
In the Championship, the battle for promotion to Super League is down to just three teams and you'd be hard-pressed to bet against Toronto Wolfpack coming out on top at the minute.
I played against them a few weeks back with Leigh and they play as well as any Super League side. Then you put in that you've got jet-lag and it's a tough trip for anyone to do.
When I was over there, they had 9,000 fans for the last league game of the season, so they're obviously doing a lot of good things over there to get such a crowd and some of the play-off games this week didn't have that.
There has been a lot of speculation over whether or not Toronto will be admitted to Super League if they do go on to win the Championship play-offs and, from my own experience, we need to make it a much easier transition for the players and the fans logistically.
There are a lot of other things to look at rather just the crowd numbers are good and the team are doing well.
I'm sure logistically it can be done and there are other sports which travel just as far, so if we can do it right then I think it would be great for the game.
There are two huge play-off games in Super League this week, with St Helens and Wigan fighting it out for a place in the Grand Final, while Salford and Castleford are scrapping it out to avoid elimination.
The half-back battle at Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday between George Williams and Jonny Lomax is a massive one. They've both chipped in with 21 try assists, Lomax has scored 16 and Williams 14, so it's really close in terms of how they're performing for their clubs.
Both are integral cogs in their team and both are in career-best form, so I think whoever wins that battle will go a long way to winning the game - not to mention the Great Britain shirt which is up for grabs at the end of the year.
Over at the AJ Bell Stadium on Thursday, the match-up i'm anticipating is in the forwards between Josh Jones and Liam Watts. Everyone is mentioning Hastings and Jake Trueman or Paul McShane and Lussick, but you have to look at what the two props are doing for their teams.
It's not only carrying the ball and making metres or breaks. They're both in the top three offloaders in the league and they're both the cornerstone of the respective packs.
Whoever can get on top in terms of offloads and tackle busts in terms of those two will lay the platform off the back of it.
