Castleford's Michael Shenton tipped For England recall
Castleford coach Daryl Powell is backing captain Michael Shenton to re-establish himself as an England international after the centre helped destroy London Broncos 54-6 on Thursday night.
Shenton scored two tries, created three others and led the London defence a merry dance throughout the one-sided contest as Castleford made it six wins from seven at the start of the Super League season.
And Powell reckons a return to the international bracket - 27-year-old Shenton having last appeared for England in 2010 - is not far from reality.
He said: "Michael is back to his best. He has been an international before and he has designs on being one again, and his form at the moment warrants that.
"He has been back with us a couple of years and he is playing with confidence. He got a lot of the ball tonight and he hit a real purple patch.
"He looks in great shape and I think he will get even better with the service he is getting."
The Tigers wasted little time in getting off the mark with former Bronco Michael Channing notching the first try with 10 minutes on the clock.
And with Shenton breaking the London line seemingly at will, three further tries were to follow in the first half from Oliver Holmes, Liam Finn and Shenton himself.
It was more of the same after the break, with Castleford running in five more tries, all converted by Jamie Ellis.
Shenton added one himself, taking his career tally at Cas to 101, while there were further scores from Craig Huby, Justin Carney (two) and former London star Luke Dorn.
For the men from the capital, it was a seventh defeat on the bounce, and one that left coach Tony Rea in downbeat mood.
He said: "Everyone needs an attitude change. We are getting blown away in games far too easily.
"We are losing the ground war, losing the ruck war and losing the collision war consistently.
"The real challenge is to put everything into the game right from the start.
"It seems as though we are just trying to get through 80 minutes and going into damage-limitation straight from the off."