Ace Castleford attack could make hay after the break

Betfred Super League
Sky Sports Action, 5pm Saturday

Such has been Castleford's domination of the Betfred Super League this season that the Tigers are on the brink of qualifying for the playoff semi-finals two months before those knockout matches take place.

Daryl Powell's team have set a relentless pace at the top of the table, winning 19 of their 22 league games, and are 1-3 to register another victory at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Maintaining motivation could be an issue but Cas have been at pains to point out they have no intention of easing up.

Opponents Catalans have nothing to play for. The Dragons are guaranteed to finish tenth no matter what the result and will start again from scratch in the Qualifiers in a fortnight.

Retaining their Super League status in that mini league is of paramount importance so it will be interesting to see how the French club approach this assignment.

Wigan loanees Lewis Tierney and Romain Navarrete are expected to play and Ben Garcia returns from suspension as Super League's leakiest defence tries to contain the competition's most prolific attack.

New coach Steve McNamara has struggled to solve his side's defensive problems. The Dragons have shipped in 138 points in his four matches in charge.

Cas are without the competition's 34-try top scorer Greg Eden who damaged his shoulder against Salford last weekend but sub Joel Monaghan immediately proved whoever is on the Tigers' left wing is almost guaranteed to score tries by bagging a brace.

Monaghan is 8-13 to get on the scoresheet again as he did in the 43-26 rout of Catalans at the Jungle in March.

The former Warrington winger is 7-1 to score the final try of the match and that looks worth chancing as Catalans have collapsed late on in their last two outings.

The Dragons let in three tries in the last eight minutes against St Helens last Sunday, while Wigan crossed four times in the final quarter a fortnight ago.

With that in mind, backing the league leaders to cover a five-point handicap in the second half also looks a decent bet.

Castleford's ace attack is ideally equipped to take full advantage of any Dragons fatigue.

Recommendations
Castleford -5 second half handicap
2pts 4-5 Sky Bet
J Monaghan last tryscorer
1pt 7-1 general