Castleford Tigers 18 Warrington Wolves 48: Castleford punished as King hat-trick keeps Warrington on top

The Wolves destroyed Terry Matterson’s side 62-0 on home soil two months ago and again had far too much quality, despite missing captain Adrian Morley and playmaker Lee Briers.

Tony Smith’s men led 24-0 at the break after tries from Brett Hodgson, Richie Myler, Matty Blythe and King.

King added two more scores to complete his treble and with Joel Monaghan, Hodgson and Ryan Atkins adding further scores, Castleford’s spirited second-half rally ultimately meant little.

The Tigers crossed through Ryan Hudson, Brett Ferres, Rangi Chase and Greg Eden but the damage had long since been done.

Hodgson went over after just two minutes with a fine individual effort, breaking from full-back and gliding past a flimsy challenge from Richie Mathers for a try he converted.

Warrington continued to look dangerous and Atkins left a trail of defenders in his wake to slip Myler in for the simplest of scores.

Blythe had too much strength and too much speed for the bewildered home defence as he cut in from the right flank for a try which Hodgson converted.

Two minutes before the break, it got worse for Castleford as David Solomona and Atkins combined to work the ball to the left flank where King was on hand.

Hodgson added the extras to leave his side 24-0 up and in total control at the break.

Solomona produced some wonderful handling after coming off the bench and was prominent again when the Wolves grabbed their fifth try three minutes after the restart.

The powerful forward fired a smart pass to Hodgson and he sent King over in the left corner.

Moments later Hodgson was pivotal again as he sent Monaghan over before King completed his treble with another fine finish.

Jacob Emmitt and Mike Cooper were then sinbinned for fighting but Castleford hit back with a flurry of tries from Ferres, Chase, Hudson and Eden, yet Hodgson’s second and a try from Atkins confirmed an emphatic Warrington win.

Meanwhile, Castleford have signed experienced former Bradford prop Rob Parker from Salford City Reds on a month’s loan to ease their front-row crisis.

The 30-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season so is playing for a new contract and is likely to debut at Wigan on Wednesday.

Castleford: Mathers, Eden, Arundel, Ferres, Owen, Chase, McGoldrick, Fozzard, Orr, Emmitt, Jones, Snitch, Hudson. Substitutes: Jackson, Milner, Massey, Holmes.

Warrington: Hodgson, J. Monaghan, Blythe, Atkins, King, Bridge, Myler, Wood, M. Monaghan, Carvell, Grix, Westwood, Harrison. Substitutes: Higham, Clarke, Cooper, Solomona.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).