Castleford Tigers vs St Helens Prediction: Saints can tighten grip on top spot

Last Thursday's 26-18 victory over Huddersfield Giants propelled St Helens to top spot in the Betfred Super League, and they're back in action this Saturday (3pm BST, live on Sky Sports +) as they travel to the OneBore Stadium to face Castleford Tigers.

Saints legend Paul Sculthorpe shares his Castleford Tigers vs St Helens predictions.

Saints moved to the top of the Betfred Super League with a 26-18 win against the Huddersfield Giants.

That should represent a team in great form who are dominating the opposition weekly. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Instead, I think it shows the current standard of the competition throughout.

I don’t want to write this column every week and be negative, but despite winning, albeit against bottom of the league, and moving to the top of the ladder, it was another very poor performance.

The game started brightly for the Saints as Jack Welsby broke clear to put Harry Robertson in for the opening try after three minutes.

Just a few minutes later, a Giants mistake was punished as Joe Shorrocks scooped up the ball and fed Lewis Murphy, who backed himself and rounded the Huddersfield defence to dive in at the corner.

On 19 minutes, Owen Dagnall crossed for his fourth try this season, following some great hands by Hastings and Welsby. 0-18 Saints.

A minute before the half-time hooter, George Delaney hit a Hastings short ball to score under the posts. Again, this was converted by the Aussie half back, who was impeccable with the boot, kicking five-for-five in the game.

It was 0-24 to the visitors at the break and what looked like, and should have been a cruise towards victory.

However, the second 40 couldn’t have been any different. Saints' lack of intensity, ruthlessness and basic fundamental skills helped towards a very ugly and chaotic second half.

If anything, this suited the home side, as let’s be honest, with what they have shown this season, as there’s not a lot of quality to shout about.

Ten minutes into the second period, it was the home side that got the scoreboard moving. A Tui Lolohea kick into the Saints in-goal was fumbled by Robertson and dove on by Giants backrower Asher O’Donnell.

On the 60-minute mark it was the home side scoring again. Yet more poor edge defence by Robertson and Dagnall, allowed former Saints winger Adam Swift to round under the posts. 12-24 and it was game on again!

Some Fenton Rogers indiscipline from the restart, allowed Jacko to kick Saints back to three scores ahead with 15 minutes remaining.

Sadly, that was our only contribution to the second half, as the Giants had the last word with Niall Evalds walking through a disinterested defensive line.

The final score was 18-26, and definitely a game for all concerned to forget about.

I honestly don’t know the answer on the lack of intensity and consistency at times. Are some of these players just not good enough? Fortunately for Paul Rowley, as the table shows, this is the case across the league.

This weekend Saints travel to another club who are finding things tough in 2026, the Castleford Tigers. Currently sat 11th in the Betfred Super League with four wins from 11.

They are coming into this game however on the back of a morale-boosting 24-18 win away at York Knights. The current Castleford Tigers vs St Helens Odds are as follows: Castleford 3/1, the draw is 16/1 and Saints are 2/7.

The OneBore Stadium as it is now called, can be a hostile place to go if you give the home side a sniff. Saints need to start the way they did at Huddersfield, but also sustain that standard for the 80 minutes or they’ll be in for a tough afternoon.

I’ll tip a better performance and a Saints victory by 16-20 points.

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