Monday 3 February 2020 12:17, UK
There was to be no fairy-tale start for Sonny Bill Williams and Toronto Wolfpack to life in Super League as they were beaten 28-10 by Castleford Tigers at Headingley.
The Wolfpack made the perfect start in the first match of Sunday's double-header in Leeds when Liam Kay finished off an early attack to put them ahead with an unconverted try with barely three minutes gone.
But Castleford rallied, with tries from Greg Eden, Grant Millington, Adam Milner and Michael Shenton helping them into a commanding 22-4 lead at half time.
Peter Mata'utia's converted try five minutes into the second half cemented Castleford's position and although Toronto showed some signs of promise after this, it was Daryl Powell's men who were celebrating when the full-time hooter sounded.
The Canadian outfit were in dreamland after only their second possession of the match, with Kay the man to enter his name into the history books as the club's first try-scorer in Super League in the third minute.
The direction of experienced loose forward Jon Wilkin, and the half-back combination of Joe Mellor and Josh McCrone, led to the ball being worked out Hakim Miloudi, with the French centre dabbing through a kick which Ireland international winger Kay chased to dot down from.
Castleford were ruthless when they sensed an opportunity though, as evidenced in the eighth minute when a promising Toronto attack broke down as Miloudi fumbled a pass and Eden picked up before sprinting over 90 metres to dot down behind the posts for Danny Richardson to convert.
Toronto were then unable to capitalise after a smart kick from scrum-half McCrone and good chase from him and Miloudi forced a drop-out, while the former was guilty of spilling possession just metres from the Tigers' line as well.
At the other end, Castleford managed to get a roll on and went into a lead they would not surrender in the 18th minute when off-season recruit Richardson sent prop Millington barging through the defence to score an unconverted try from close range.
Williams was introduced to the fray in the 27th minute to applause and cheering from the crowd at Headingley, but his first run of the match led to a knock-on as he was wrapped up in a two-man tackle.
Then four minutes later, Castleford surged further ahead as Milner - who had only returned to the field after passing a head injury assessment - did well to control a grubber from Richardson close to the line and dive on the ball for a converted try.
Lively Tigers stand-off Jake Trueman was showing more signs of his talent as well and it took some strong defence from the Wolfpack to hold him up in-goal on 35 minutes.
However, the ball was worked quickly out to the left to skipper Shenton following the restart and he duly applied the finish - only for Richardson to see his conversion attempt hit the post.
Former St Helens player Richardson did kick a penalty on the stroke of half-time to extend his side's lead to 22-4 at the break though, with Mata'utia slicing through the Toronto defence to in the 45th minute for a converted score just moments after Blake Wallace had held up Cheyse Blair.
Toronto were not done yet though and Miloudi gave them a glimmer of hope of the hour mark as he intercepted a pass in his own half and stepped on the gas to race in from over 60 metres out, followed by Wallace slotting the extras.
Adam Sidlow was then denied a try five minutes later when Castleford's defenders were deemed to have held him up following good work by Ricky Leutele and Mellor, while Richardson pushed a 76th-minute drop goal effort wide as the Tigers sought to close out the match.
In the end, it made little difference though as Castleford had done enough to make a winning start to the 2020 campaign. Toronto head coach Brian McDermott and his side, however, now know what to expect as they bid to establish themselves in Super League.
