Leeds Rhinos v Castleford Tigers: Andy Last convinced strugglers are on the up after crisis meeting

The Castleford boss brought his squad together for a frank discussion in the aftermath of a 32-8 home loss to Hull FC which ended the club's Challenge Cup hopes.

Last did not get the desired result after seeing his team go down to Huddersfield Giants last week – but he is convinced the second-bottom Tigers are starting to turn the corner.

"We had an open, honest crisis meeting on the Monday leading into the Huddersfield game," said Last.

"We were trying to hold back on doing that but the way the season is going we had to fast forward and set some standards now.

"We've drawn a line under the first half of the season and know that the performances weren't at the level we expect.

"We need to make sure we improve our performances on a day-to-day basis and hope that will lead to better performances when it comes to game day.

"There were some positives to take from the week's practice leading into Huddersfield, albeit the performance wasn't great in the first 30 minutes because of the amount of errors we made.

"Although we lost, it felt different in the changing room after the game. There was a different atmosphere between the players and that's been evident again this week."

The 20-4 defeat at Huddersfield made it six in a row for Castleford, a run that is offering hope to winless Wakefield Trinity.

While a positive vibe at training counts for something, Last knows there is no substitute for a result on game day.

"It's very, very important for us in terms of reaffirming some of the messages we've been speaking to the players about," said Last ahead of Saturday's Magic Weekend date with Leeds Rhinos.

"It would give us the confidence to know that the work we've done has resulted in us getting a performance and a result.

"It's vitally important that we don't look too far ahead. We've just got to focus on this 80 minutes and putting two good quality 40 minutes together."

Joe Westerman has been one of Castleford's standout performers in a miserable campaign to date.

The 33-year-old loose forward is poised to make his 400th career appearance at St James' Park, a milestone that has been marked with a special presentation by the club.

"To make 400 appearances at Super League level is an outstanding achievement,” said Last.

"He competes hard and is an exceptionally talented player and a really tough competitor.

"He's a very, very influential player for us. He's a link between the forward pack and the halves.

"When Joe plays well, Castleford tend to play well."

The Tigers have won only once since recording their first victory of the season against Leeds in March.

The Rhinos saw Harry Newman, Morgan Gannon and Aidan Sezer join a worsening injury list last week but there is no chance of Last taking Rohan Smith's men lightly.

"Leeds are a difficult team to preview," said Last.

"They're very, very athletic and play on the front foot with their eyes up. They move the ball and take risks challenging you from tryline to tryline.

"Defensively it's really, really important that we're fully switched on and try to neutralise those individual threats that they've got.

"We're aware that they've got one or two busted bodies but within that 21-man squad they can still put a very, very good team on the park.

"We're expecting the best version of Leeds. We'll need to be good ourselves to get a performance. If we get a performance, hopefully we get the right result."

Like Castleford, neighbours Leeds are searching for form after struggling for consistency in the first half of the season.

The Rhinos are four points adrift of the play-off positions going into Magic Weekend following a painful golden-point loss to St Helens.

Smith has warned his injury-hit side that they will need to dig deep against their desperate rivals.

"They'll throw everything they've got at us," he said.

"It's two teams that are desperately looking for a good performance and a result.

"We saw what they're good at the last time we played Cas but it's a totally different time of the season with different weather conditions.

"We let ourselves down in certain areas that day but there's been a lot of water under the bridge between then and now.

"We respect what they've been doing under a new coach. They've changed how they do some things and will be looking to bring their best, as we will."