Powell eager to celebrate anniversary

It is exactly 12 months since Powell took over from Ian Millward at the Tigers and, after guiding them to an impressive tally of 16 wins from his first 26 matches, he admits a victory over the Super League leaders would provide a fitting celebration.

Powell played for the Rhinos for three seasons before being appointed as coach from 
2001-03 but long before then he used to cheer Castleford from the terraces, especially when Leeds came to town.

“It’s big city against small town, isn’t it?” Powell said. “It’s an historical one. They’re perceived as having deep pockets with loads of money in them, while Castleford are sort of feeding off scraps.

“When I played at Leeds you knew you were going to be in for a fair old challenge when you went to Cas, but it’s been a fair while since both clubs have been going really well.

“I used to give them some grief as a spectator and hopefully I’ll give them some grief on Thursday night.”

Leeds suffered a shock 14-12 defeat on their last visit to the Mend-a-Hose Jungle.