Super League review: Castleford win, Danny McGuire helps put Leeds Rhinos in danger
A review of Saturday's Betfred Super League action.
Castleford Tigers 36-4 Catalans Dragons
Greg Eden's hat-trick and Luke Gale's return from a four-month injury lay-off inspired Castleford to a 36-4 victory over jaded Challenge Cup winners Catalans Dragons.
Steve McNamara named 12 of his Wembley-winning squad for the French side's return to action in the Super 8s a week after their historic cup success over Warrington.
But the Dragons faced a home team boosted by Man of Steel Gale's comeback after missing 15 matches with a fractured kneecap as well Ben Roberts' first outing since May 24 following hamstring and knee issues.
England half-back Gale, on his 100th appearance for the club, claimed pass assists for two of Castleford's first three tries as Daryl Powell's hosts led 18-0 at the break.
He had a hand in two more after the break and kicked six goals from seven attempts in a win that all but secured a play-off semi-final for last season's Grand Final runners-up.
Only an unlikely sequence of results over the last four Super 8s fixtures and a massive swing in points difference can deny Castleford a top-four finish.
Qualifiers
Leeds Rhinos 36-38 Hull KR: McGuire haunts former club
Former Leeds favourite Danny McGuire revelled on his return to Headingley to help Hull KR to a 38-36 victory in a 13-try feast.
The lead changed hands five times before Rovers finally secured their second victory of the Super 8s Qualifiers to take a significant step towards preserving their Super League status.
McGuire, one of five former Leeds players in the visitors' ranks, was the main architect but the scoring was led by former Toronto and Leigh winger Craig Hall, who scored a hat-trick of tries, taking his tally to seven in just four appearances of his second spell with the club, and kicked five goals for a personal 22-point haul.
New Zealand-born forward Nathaniel Peteru scored his first try for Leeds - and only the second of his career - but the Rhinos' defeat leaves them with work to do if they are to avoid the dreaded Million-Pound Game.
Toronto Wolfpack 34-22 London Broncos: Canadian side back in promotion hunt
Toronto are back on course for promotion after gaining a 34-22 win over London Broncos in the third round of the Super 8s Qualifiers.
The Wolfpack, who began their campaign with an away victory over Halifax, bounced back from their home defeat by Hull KR with a routine victory over the Broncos in front of a crowd of 7,557 at the Lamport Stadium.
Toronto, who had beaten London twice in the regular season, led 20-0 at half-time thanks to tries from Blake Wallace, Gareth O'Brien and Chase Stanley and four goals from the boot of O'Brien.
They added further tries through Josh McCrone and Mason Caton-Brown - his first for the club - to extend their advantage to 32-0 before the visitors staged a rally which brought them tries through Rhys Williams, Alex Walker, Ben Evans and Matt Davis - three of which were converted by Jarrod Sammut.
Both teams finished the game with 12 men after Sammut and Toronto forward Richard Whiting were sin-binned after coming to blows.
Toulouse 42-22 Widnes: Three straight defeats for the Vikings
Mark Kheirallah and Chris Centrone scored two tries apiece as Toulouse condemned Widnes to a 42-22 loss on Saturday, the Vikings' third straight Qualifiers defeat.
Kheirallah also slotted seven kicks at Stade Ernest Argeles as the French side flexed their muscles against a Vikings side now staring down the barrel of relegation.
Johnathon Ford, Stan Robin and William Barthau scored the other tries for the home side, while Krisnan Inu, Harrison Hansen, Weller Hauraki and Lloyd White crossed for Widnes.
Victory for Toulouse takes them to fourth spot, one place behind the Wolfpack who eased to victory over London Broncos in Toronto.
Widnes, on the other hand, are now rooted at the bottom of the Qualifiers table, and are yet to play Super League sides Leeds and Hull KR as well as the high-flying Wolfpack.
Halifax 4-62 Salford: Red Devils remain top of the Qualifiers
Derrell Olpherts scored a hat-trick as Salford claimed their third straight win in the Qualifiers to condemn Championship side Halifax to a third successive loss.
The Red Devils beat Hull KR and Widnes in their opening two fixtures and a thumping 62-4 win on Sunday saw them take a significant step towards Super League survival.
Ian Watson's side had too much quality for their hosts and tries from Jackson Hastings, Ed Chamberlain, Olpherts (two), Ben Nakubuwai and Kris Welham helped them into a 30-4 interval lead.
From there Salford did not look back and second-half scores from Olpherts, Lama Tasi, Junior Sa'u (two), Hastings and Josh Wood completed a handsome 12-try victory for Ian Watson's men.
Halifax, who opening the scoring through Sam Wood, remain pointless in the Qualifiers after previous defeats to Toronto and Toulouse.
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