CASTLEFORD coach Daryl Powell says his side will be better prepared for Wembley than in 2014 as he aims to bow out of the club with a Challenge Cup winners’ medal.

The Tigers set up a final showdown with St Helens on July 17 by knocking out Warrington 35-20 in an action-packed semi-final on Saturday. Saints were 33-18 winners over Hull in the other tie at Leigh Sports Village.

Powell, who is leaving his home-town club at the end of the year to coach Warrington, is confident his side can go one step further than seven years ago when he guided the Tigers to Wembley in his first full season only to lose 23-10 to Leeds.

Captain Michael Shenton, who is out of contract at the end of the season, second rower Oliver Holmes and prop Nathan Massey are the only Castleford survivors from 2014 who are aiming to deliver the club’s first Cup triumph since 1986.

Powell says his current team have more experience of the big occasion and he is happy with a bigger lead-in time, having had less than a fortnight to prepare his team last time.

The coach is also going to have his say on the location of the team hotel, saying the decision to base themselves in the heart of Wembley backfired.

“We’ve noted some of the things we perhaps got wrong back in 2014,” he said. “I didn’t have a say on the hotel last time but I will now.

“We’re up against formidable opponents but we’ve probably got more players with experience of the biggest games.

“We’ve also got a bit more time to prepare this time so we’ll be better equipped. We know how good St Helens are but we’ve got to go there with confidence.”

Those experienced players include the versatile Jordan Turner, 32, who scored a hat-trick on the wing on Saturday but won the Grand Final with St Helens in 2014 playing at loose forward.

Fans will be back at Wembley and the Oldham-born Turner, who joined the Tigers from Huddersfield at the start of the season, is getting ready to put his hands into his pocket to fund a weekend trip to London for his family.

“It feels amazing,” Turner said. “I’ve dreamed of this moment since being a young boy and it means the absolute world to me.

“We always had a family trip to the Challenge Cup final as a family.

“They always found the money to take us and it’s a chance for me to repay them now.”

Turner is likely to keep his place on the wing but, having also started in both half-back positions and in the second row so far for his new club, he says he is prepared for anything.

“I’ll just bring my boots and play wherever,” he said. “There were a couple of times this year when I’ve turned up not knowing where I’d be playing.

“I just thought it would be a good fit for me coming here and it’s proving that way.”

Turner says his team’s priority now is to put the final to the back of their minds and concentrate on improving their league position, starting with the visit of beaten semi-finalists Hull to the Jungle on Thursday.

“Our league form in the past three weeks has been really poor,” he said. “We’re not going to put all our eggs in the Challenge Cup basket. We need to pick our game up in the league.”