With the conclusion of the first half of the Reserves season approaching fast, Leeds Rhinos Reserves host Castleford Tigers on Friday night in a curtain raiser to the main Super League game at AMT Headingley Stadium.

Chev Walker's side has kicked into life as the season has progressed, adding a high-scoring win over top-six hopeful Hull FC last week. Despite seven changes to the starting lineup for the trip east, this year's ever-presents Presley Cassell, Joe Diskin and Riley Lumb were amongst the seven different try scorers in the 44-18 result, plus Ned McCormack added two tries to take his tally for the season to four as the club moved up to third place in the standings.

The result came as part of four consecutive wins recently for the Rhinos, who have seen off the challenge of London, Huddersfield and Bradford to make them the highest scoring Reserves side in the competition this season. With second-placed Wakefield Trinity only a win away from being overtaken, this week's game against Castleford and upcoming fixtures against St Helens and Hull KR give Leeds a chance to confirm and consolidate their spot in the top half, before they begin their run to a potential Grand Final at the end of June.

In a change to the structure of the Reserves competition for 2026, teams are involved in a split-season format before the top four are decided. After completing 11 games between February and June, teams finishing in the top six of the table will progress into the second stage of the season, which sees them play each other once (home or away) to decide the top four semi-finalists and subsequent Grand Finalists. The bottom six also play off, but miss out on the opportunity to qualify for the semi finals.

Friday opponents Castleford remain on the cusp of a place in the top six as they join London, Bradford and both Hull clubs in vying for a place in the play-off picture. 

Tom Schofield's side have four wins in seven games this season, two of which have come in back-to-back games in May so far. An important 32-20 win over Hull KR at the start of the month was followed up last time out by a 26-22 win over last year's Grand Finalists Warrington Wolves as tries from Louis Senior, Sam Grice, Mitch Beedle and Alfie Horwell secured what could be an important win for the club looking at their final league position.

It's been quite the turnaround for the Tigers after a mid-season drop in form saw losses to Wigan, Bradford and Wakefield break a lively start that saw the Fords get the better of Huddersfield and St Helens in their season opener. With an opportunity to take down another Grand Final hopeful in Leeds at AMT Headingley, a result would see the Tigers get their first Reserves win over the Rhinos, having lost every meeting with their Yorkshire rivals since 2022.

Round Eight Highlights

Ticket and Fan Information

Entry to Friday's Reserves match against the Tigers is included in all tickets for Leeds Rhinos' Betfred Super League match against Huddersfield Giants, kick off 8pm. PLEASE NOTE tickets are not available for the Reserves game only.

To buy tickets, go to:

Online tickets.therhinos.co.uk.  

Over the phone- 0371 423 1315 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm - Opening Hours) 

In-person at Leeds Rhinos Ticket Office Transfer Windows- Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm (Opening Hours)