Gentle likens Chase to Benji

by NRL

Hull FC coach Peter Gentle has likened Castleford Tigers stand-off Rangi Chase to New Zealand international Benji Marshall - and has warned his players they must close down the playmaker on Sunday.

Gentle coached the Kiwi skipper while at Wests Tigers in the NRL and believes the Black and Whites will come up against a player with similar capabilities when they travel to West Yorkshire this weekend.

Describing Chase as a huge threat and the lynchpin of the Castleford attack, Gentle says his side must handle the half back's threat on Sunday if they are to return from the Probiz Coliseum with a fourth straight win.

"Rangi Chase is a hugely talented player. He's got everything and he's a lot like Benji in many respects," said the Hull boss.

"He's been playing well this season and Ian Millward has him playing a lot more structured than he has been used to in the past. Like Benji, he's got that off-the-cuff play in his locker though and we know how dangerous he can be if we give him the space he likes.

"But having coached Benji, I've also got a good idea of the things he doesn't like a defence to throw up against him and that's the challenge for us this weekend."

Hull FC travel to the Tigers on the back of three consecutive wins, the latest being a 58-10 victory over Widnes at the KC Stadium on Sunday, while Castleford have won just once so far this season.

However, far from happy with his side's performance against the Vikings, Gentle has challenged his players to make big improvements - and warned only that will be good enough to secure two more competition points against a side he feels are on the verge of putting together a strong showing of their own.

"Our video analysis session on Monday was probably the worst we've had so far this season, which may sound strange coming on the back of a comprehensive win," he said.

"But I felt we dramatically fell away from the things we have been working on last week. We've been looking for improved performances each week and I didn't think we did improve against them.

"With all due respect to Widnes, a stronger side would have punished us for some of the things we dished up last weekend and we've challenged the players this week to prove they are better than that.

"Castleford have gone through a lot of adversity this season, but they have some very good players there and I have no doubt they will put it all together soon. We need to make sure they don't have the opportunity to do that against us."

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