Matterson leads calls for Huby’s recognition

The robust prop has found the form of his career in the early part of Engage Super League XVI.

Huby scored one try, had a hand in another and was generally a constant menace in the 34-24 success over Catalan Dragons which returned Castleford to the top of the table – before Huddersfield displaced them with their rout of Bradford. England coach Steve McNamara was watching from the stands as cries of ‘Huby for England’ regularly rang out during the club’s fourth successive win.

He failed to pick the player for either his elite squad or England Knights group recently – team-mates Brett Ferres, Jonathan Walker and Joe Arundel earning recognition – but McNamara must have been impressed by another high-quality performance from Huby who is now in a ninth campaign with his hometown club.

“Craig’s been good for us for a while now,” said Matterson. “And I don’t mean just this year but last year as well,

“He played some big minutes and the quality’s getting better and better every week.

“Steve can’t pick everyone but if Craig keeps going the way he is – and at the ripe old age of 25 after 10 years – he’ll get there no doubt.

“He’s got to do that consistently and play at that level and he’s certainly on the right track.”

Matterson, who revealed fellow prop Walker requires minor knee surgery following the injury sustained against Hull KR a week earlier, praised his side’s defensive resolve after they weathered a Catalan storm in the second period.

“They caught us on the hop at the start,” he said, after the French club eased into a 10-0 lead.

“They are a big physical side and we were a bit soft.

“The players were disappointed about that but I was really pleased with their reaction.

“In the end, they did score a try in the corner but they were on our line for what seemed like forever.

“Catalan scored 24 points but certainly our defence did win the game today.

“We got a couple of defensive tries ourselves – long-range ones – from being in their face.”

Having played three consecutive fixtures at Wheldon Road, Matterson admitted: “We have to go over to Bradford on Sunday and do it on the road now.

“These players are hungry and they keep working hard but it seems like we’ve been at home for a while so that’s the next challenge.”