Thursday 3 August 2017 22:18, UK
Brian Carney reflects on round 19 of Betfred Super League as Castleford returned to winning ways and Steve McNamara tasted defeat in his first game in charge of Catalans.
The Tigers are seven points clear at the Super League summit after Thursday's victory at Headingley while St Helens produced one of the comebacks of the season as they stunned high-flying Salford.
Wigan equalled an unwanted club record as their winless streak continued and although it was also a bad week for Leigh, there are reasons for Centurions fans to be optimistic.
Castleford Tigers
It may seem like an obvious one but the Tigers are first up. This team is going to be asked questions and will have to keep answering them until the season ends. It's the nature of the beast and is because they haven't been there before.
Leeds have won and lost Grand Finals, as have Wigan and St Helens, while Warrington and Hull FC have reached the Old Trafford decider. This is new territory for Cas so the obvious question between now and the season's end will be how they respond to their latest setback.
Castleford lost to Hull in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and what's thrown at them is they bottle it in big games. That's ludicrous.
Yes, it is the second time Hull have beaten them this season but the Airlie Birds did a good job and were deserving winners.
Castleford then had to go to Headingley, where they have a good record but were without Junior Moors and skipper Michael Shenton. And they were up against a Leeds side that had won seven of their last eight games.
Brian McDermott didn't hedge his bets during a brilliant pre-match press conference, stating Leeds were gunning for Castleford. He did everything he could in building up the game.
McDermott lay down the challenge and Castleford met it head on. They conceded the first try but still came out with all the glory.
The questions they were asked pre-game - can they do it, can they recover, even without player X, Y, Z? So far they have the answers.
McDermott conceded the League Leaders' Shield to Castelford after Friday's game so there's another challenge for them, and there's another huge question this week. Can they defeat the side that has beaten them twice this year?
Friday's fixture against Hull is a phenomenal game with a phenomenal story. One not to be missed.
St Helens
If I was writing this piece with seven minutes to go between St Helens and Salford, you'd have been talking about Saints blowing their top-four chances.
They trailed 24-8 and the story was whether they will get dragged into the bottom-four fight, while Salford were set to continue their great season.
Up against Super League's second-best defensive side, St Helens then scored 17 unanswered points. That is a hugely significant result for Saints and a fair blow for Salford. This is a Red Devils side that have high expectations because of what they have achieved this year.
St Helens are very much in that chasing pack for the top four. They're a fair bit off being considered semi-final material but thanks to Friday's result they have the time and space to mount that challenge.
Saints now go to Headingley on Thursday to face Leeds. The hunters of last week, will the Rhinos become the hunted in front of the Sky Sports cameras?
Bradford Bulls
Another nod to the London Broncos, who I mentioned last week. They have claimed a club-record 10 successive victories, coming from behind to beat top-four rivals Featherstone on Sunday.
But maybe the most welcome victory for any set of supporters in the Championship will have been Bradford's win.
Deep into the season, and it scarcely sounds like an achievement, but they have got to zero points having started with minus 12. It is a significant psychological milestone.
The Bulls still have it all to do to avoid relegation but looking at the table now, they have recorded more victories than the four teams who are directly above them. This could mark the turning point for the Bulls.
It may be the most important victory they have this year.
Wigan Warriors
The Warriors have equalled the club-record winless streak in the league that goes back to 1903.
Eight games without a win is another head-scratcher. Granted there is another draw in there - our researcher Ian Proctor pointed out it's only the second time in the history of Super League that there have been home and away draws between teams.
Wigan have taken just six points from their last 10 games. Shaun Wane rightly pointed out that they are the World Club champions, Challenge Cup semi-finalists and reigning Super League champions, but they are in a Super League hole.
Wigan's season is not yet a disaster in comparison to Leeds last year, but it is heading south rapidly.
Their three next games are against Widnes (home), Catalans (away) and Warrington (home) - all teams who are below Wigan in the table.
Don't be surprised if the Warriors snap this streak and return six points from the next six available.
Catalans Dragons
Next up for Catalans is a home date with Leigh on Sky Sports on Saturday but after that, they have Wigan, Saints and Castleford.
It is hard to see them recording a victory in those final three games so Steve McNamara will be doing some heavy research on the top end of the Championship.
The Dragons' defeat to Warrington has put a line through any chance of salvaging something from a miserable Super League season.
Leigh Centurions
Like Widnes, Leigh probably only have ninth and 10th spot and four home games in the Qualifiers to aim for. The newly-promoted Centurions are now in a battle for Super League survival.
There is a good news end to this for their fans though. This is a club that obviously did their homework and planning during pre-season.
As soon as bottom four and the Qualifiers became a realistic proposition, Leigh's battle plan has been engaged.
Dayne Weston retires, Willie Tonga is released, and in comes Daniel Mortimer, a very talented hooker/half-back who played for Cronulla against Manly on Sunday, and Tonga international Samisoni Langi.
That is the experience Leigh have. They were realistic in pre-season, knowing they were more than likely to be in the Qualifiers. But they didn't wait for that to happen before recruiting.
They have brought in two quality players and in plenty of time for that battle to secure their Super League status.
Leigh have Catalans, Warrington and Huddersfield up next. I'm certain they will be playing one - more likely two - of those sides in the Qualifiers.
There are some big psychological games coming up for Leigh, games that will possibly decide ninth and 10th position.
