Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls Prediction: More magic from Nikorima to come at Cas

On Thursday the struggling Castleford Tigers are back home at the OneBore Stadium after a thumping loss at Warrington. They will host a Bradford Bulls side flying high on their Betfred Super League return (20:00 GMT, Sky Sports+ HD).

The Tigers conceded 12 tries last Saturday in an embarrassing 72-6 capitulation to the Wolves, while the Bulls won for the third time this season to climb to fifth in the early table. Below are my Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls predictions, with team news and Betfred's match odds.

Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls Odds

Team News

Bulls boss Kurt Haggerty welcomed half-back Jayden Nikorima back from injury last weekend for his Bradford debut, and the former Salford man delighted followers of this column with not one but two tries at 9/4 in the Anytime Tryscorer market against Huddersfield.

This week sees new Australian signing Phoenix Steinwede included in place of Tray Lolesio, who returns to parent club Wakefield, with four other key men returning after missing out against the Giants. Forward Loghan Lewis is back from suspension to replace Ronan Michael, while fit-again Brandon Douglas, Waqa Blake and Rowan Milnes are all named in the initial 21-man squad.

Concussion protocols rule out Zac Fulton, while Eliot Peposhi completes his ban. Missing are Jayden Okunbor, Eribe Doro, Dan Russell, Joe Keyes, Ebon Scurr and Will Gardiner.

Tigers boss Ryan Carr didn't mince his words after that humbling loss at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, labelling it probably the worst loss he had ever been associated with. Carr called the loss "horrible, embarrassing, not good enough" and he wasn't wrong. It was an awful display in which his team simply gave up, and it is pretty tough to see how he picks that dressing room up. I was around the tunnel area after the final whistle and a shell-shocked Carr headed straight into the dressing room around which there was a predictably cold and flat feel.

This weekend he only names an initial 19-man squad, with Louis Senior, Fletcher Rooney, Cain Robb and Alex Mellor all still out through injury. Hooker Liam Hood is also missing, with a further two players - Jack Ashwoth and Joe Stimson - failing head injury assessments at Warrington and therefore also now unavailable.

Krystian Mapapalangi does return to the squad after his concussion absence. He has been pretty much the only bright spark in a dismal 2026 so far.

Handicap 3-Way Alt 1: Bradford -2 @ 8/5

Castleford have won only once all season and despite their horrible performance at Warrington last weekend the Tigers are 8/11 favourites with Betfred to win this match.

Cas are the seasoned Betfred Super League side of course, but Bradford have the form right now and anyone who watched the Tigers at Warrington would be hard-pushed to back them here. But this is already a season that has produced some unpredictable results and it does seem unthinkable that Carr's side can be that bad for too long.

Much of that Warrington scoreline was down to the Wolves - Cas didn't have the ball for the first quarter of the game and as soon as they got a spell of possession they scored a try. But the manner in which Carr's men downed tools will have alarmed fans, and this feels like quite a big derby game even this early on in the season.

Bradford, on the other hand, have impressed. Three wins out of five games back in the top tier and they were not a million miles away in the two defeats either.

But we should note that all three wins have come at home at Bartercard Odsal, with the Bulls still seeking their first win away from home despite showing spirit in narrow losses at both St Helens and Hull FC.

There is a certain degree of recency bias in this prediction, given how alarmed I was at what Castleford produced last weekend. But I am backing Bradford for a first away win of their Super League season.

Jayden Nikorima Anytime Tryscorer @ 11/4

It felt like a bit of a punt last week backing Jayden Nikorima in the tryscorer market given it was his first game back from a lengthy injury lay-off, but his performance on his Bulls debut firmly justified my backing.

The half-back scored two tries and set up another in the final 20 minutes of the game, with his pair of touchdowns almost identical drives over under the posts. Our Giants tip Jacob Gagai also found his way over the tryline at 7/4 so it was a good week for our tryscorer selections.

I like to keep faith with players who return, and as such am selecting Nikorima again this week, so impressed was I with his display. Winger Ethan Ryan at 5/4 would again be the other Bradford player to have a look at given his scoring form so far in 2026 that has yielded five tries in his last four games.

For Cas, wingers Semi Valemei (6/5) and Mikaele Ravalawa (4/5) would be my selections.

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