The Liam Farrell Column: They've taken '˜classy Cas' to a new level...

There's always been something between us and Castleford. Every time we go there it's pretty hostile, and that rivalry is only going to get bigger now they are stronger.
Liam Marshall slides over for a tryLiam Marshall slides over for a try
Liam Marshall slides over for a try

At the worst of times, it’s been a good fixture. Now, with the quality in their side and the way they’re playing, it should be lifted to a new level.

It’s going to be pretty interesting, and I’m looking forward to it.

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I’ve seen quite a bit of Cas’ this year, they’ve had a lot of hype and deservedly so.

They are attacking really well, and it’s a good test for us – I want to see if they are as good as they look.

For the last few years Cas’ have been known for off-the-cuff plays, and they seem to have taken that to the next level this year.

It’s up to everyone else to catch them up.

Everyone will be looking for a big game, and I’m sure Luke Gale and George Williams will both be looking to out play each other, even though they are two very different halfbacks. Luke is a controlling half and George is more off the cuff, but both are damaging at what they do and you can see why they are both in the England squad.

Hopefully I’ll get to play.

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Last week, I did team run and Waney pulled me out three-quarters of the way through and asked how I felt.

I could feel the calf wasn’t right, and we agreed it wasn’t worth the risk. I’d only done 30 minutes of a session before then. But this week I’ve done quite a bit of running so hopefully I’ll be alright – it’ll be another late call.

Either way, I know the lads are really keen to put in a good performance.

The effort was there last week, but Leeds started better than us and in the second half we didn’t play to our normal ways, it seemed we were trying to compensate for the people who weren’t there.

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I suppose it’s a positive that even though we made some poor calls we were still in the game until the end, but we know we can be better.

It’s good to see a Super League with new teams at the top-end. I’m pleased to see Salford rattling a few cages, and Wakefield had a terrific result going to Catalans and getting a win.

We want to be up there still, but it means there are more interesting games when previous fixtures might not have been quite as interesting.

The England lads met up on Monday, and Will Greenwood was a guest speaker.

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He gave a speech about his experiences from rugby union and an insight into their preparations ahead of their World Cup win.

It was really interesting.

He came to Wigan last year, too, so I already knew he was quite knowledgeable about rugby league – from the way he speaks, you can tell he watches it.

After he spoke to the Wigan lads, we had a field session and he said, ‘I think I’ll join in’. I thought he was kidding, but he went out there and got stuck in and was wrestling with the lads – fair play!