New rules don't Matter
Last updated: 7th February 2008
Castleford: suffered relegation pain last time
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Castleford Tigers coach Terry Matterson insists the removal of relegation will not change the way he approaches games.
Matterson is preparing his side for a return to Super League against Catalans Dragons in their opening fixture on Saturday night after winning promotion back to the big time.
The Tigers were relegated in 2006 - a fate that will not befall them this year following the abolition of relegation - and while this is likely to be a season of consolidation for Matterson he insists he will still be looking to win every game.
He told Boots 'n' All: "It doesn't change the way we approach things. We're not going into the weekend hoping to lose by a close score, we're going in to win every game and that's how it's got to be.
"The pressure's still on the coaches and I'm sure the clubs are going to react if they don't get the performances on the field, so in that way it doesn't change.
"We get to look at things a little differently and we get to give game time to a lot of the young talented kids running around in England, and we've got a few of them."
Expectation
And while Matterson admitted he was willing to give youth a chance, he refused to be drawn on his expectations for the season, even though his side are favourites to finish bottom of the pile.
He continued: "You want to play in those play-off games. The goals that we've set are in-house, and most of them are based around performance, but it's no use losing every game by 10 points.
"I'm sure the fans will be happy if the team is competitive. It's a real tough one as we're very short favourites to come last, but we've got high hopes and I'll keep them to myself."
Looking ahead to their first game on Saturday, Matterson expects Catalans to be strong opponents despite the retirement of key player Stacey Jones.
He added: "They'll have a lot of confidence after reaching the Challenge Cup Final last year and they've had a lot of continuity - Stacey Jones is the only one of any note that's gone.
"They've brought Dane Carlaw in, who is a cracking player. They've got a big forward pack and the conditions will probably suit them with the heavy ground and Casey McGuire is a really smart half-back as well.
"I don't know a great deal about them and things will have changed a little bit without Stacey being there, so we need to concentrate on our game and get confidence from what we did at the back end of last year."
