Delighted Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr says 'lot of sacrifice' went into shock 36-34 win v Leeds Rhinos

Tigers trailed 20-4 in the first half and 30-16 after the break, but a brace of tries from winger Jason Qareqare helped them to a famous victory which ended the Betfred Super League leaders’ seven-match winning run. Carr described it as an “unbelievable game”.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, he said: “It was unreal, a big win for us after what we’ve been through. There was a lot of adversity throughout the week and during the game and to fight through it and be able to find a way to win a game against the best team in the comp, we won it on effort. That’s what I’d put it down to.”

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Carr revealed Louis Senior was ruled out on Thursday with concussion symptoms, which meant Alex Mellor playing at centre and Jack Brown making a late switch to back-row. Semi Semi Valemei moved from the left-side to the right.

Ashton Golding suffered a tight hamstring during the game, George Lawler played through the pain of a groin injury and Liam Hood defied a damaged ankle to play. Carr said: “I love that about my players, I love how much it means to them and how much the club means to them. A lot of sacrifice went into it.”

Tigers’ refusal to throw in the towel when they trailed 20-4 and 30-16 also delighted their coach. He added: “It was a bad start and it could have gone one of two ways. Earlier in the year it would probably have gone the other way, but this time we chose to go the tough path and work our way back into it and that’s what pleases me the most - the belief the group has now.

“We have learned a lot and we are starting to see the benefit of that now. At the start of the second half we could have said ‘it’s their day today’, but we didn’t, we fought through it, even with the injuries and people playing out of position.”