Huddersfield Giants 36 Castleford Tigers 6: Dismal display underlines size of task facing next boss

The Tigers arrived at the John Smith's Stadium, which was under threat from snow until early afternoon, led by interim boss Andy Last following Lee Radford's sudden exit.

Three straight defeats at the start of the new Super League season hastened Radford's departure and robbed him of the chance to leave on his own terms at the end of his contract later this year.

Last has made no secret of his desire to replace his good friend on a permanent basis.

If he is still as keen after watching the Tigers surrender to a dismal defeat, he may just be the man for a crisis.

Although he has been on the coaching staff for 18 months, Last had only a few days to put his twist on things before the trip to Huddersfield.

The England coach was left in no doubt about the size of the task facing Castleford's next boss by the end of a chastening night.

The Tigers were disconnected on their own line and emphatically lost the energy battle with an ageing side.

There was the odd flash of quality – Gareth Widdop nailing a 40/20 to give emergency hooker George Lawler the field position to score the opening try – but they were collector's items in a game dominated by Huddersfield from the moment they nudged themselves in front.

As listless as Castleford were, the Giants showed the kind of ruthless edge required to compete at the top, led by inspirational captain Luke Yates.

Will Pryce was the difference maker when the game was in the balance in the first half, scoring an eye-catching individual try before laying on another for Jake Bibby.

It was the perfect response by the young playmaker after dropping to the bench to accommodate Olly Russell's return to the team.

Pryce was handed an early opportunity following an injury to Theo Fages, one of three players forced off in the opening 40 minutes along with Joe Greenwood and Alex Sutcliffe.

A night that ended with cries of "Sack the board" from the away end began with the Tigers backpeddling inside the opening minute after a break from deep by Bibby.

Jason Qareqare – brought in by Last for his first appearance of the season – recovered from a slip to knock the ball dead later in the set but it was the start of a difficult night for the young winger.

He was twice adjudged to have knocked on challenging for high kicks from the boot of Russell and Castleford paid the price on each occasion.

If the Tigers felt aggrieved about two 50/50 calls going against them, it showed in the way they defended their tryline.

Castleford had already seen Chris McQueen cancel out Lawler's opener with consummate ease by the time Pryce jinked his way over from a scrum play.

Six minutes later, referee Tom Grant ruled another knock on by Qareqare close to his own line and Bibby collected Pryce's neat grubber kick to score his first Huddersfield try.

In the contest for half an hour, the Tigers found themselves going into the break trailing 20-6.

It had the look of an insurmountable deficit and so it proved with Castleford in damage limitation mode for the final 40 minutes.

McQueen, who scored more tries than any other forward in Super League last season, helped himself to a double after taking advantage of more soft defence on the Tigers' problem left edge.

Pryce looked set to add a second himself after coasting through the middle of Castleford, only to lose the ball in the act of scoring.

Huddersfield got the fifth try they were striving for when Leroy Cudjoe kicked back inside for Tui Lolohea to touch down.

Cudjoe grabbed one himself after running over the top of Jack Broadbent out wide on the left.

Castleford stemmed the bleeding in the closing stages without laying a glove on the Giants.

Russell rounded off the scoring in the dying seconds with a third penalty of the night following a high shot by Liam Watts, making it 12 points from the boot on his return to the side.

Huddersfield Giants: Lolohea, Golding, Bibby, Marsters, Cudjoe, Russell, Fages, Hill, Peats, Wilson, Jones, McQueen, Yates. Substitutes: Greenwood, Ashworth, English, Pryce.

Castleford Tigers: Broadbent, Eden, Sutcliffe, Fonua, Qareqare, Widdop, Miller, Matagi, Lawler, Massey, Mellor, Edwards, Westerman. Substitutes: Milner, Watts, Smith, Mustapha.

Referee: Tom Grant.