CASTLEFORD’S ground-breaking 2017 season is set to have a positive spin-off for Super League in 2018, the boss of their arch rivals said yesterday.

Although Leeds put paid to the Tigers’ bid for a maiden Grand Final triumph, their chief executive Gary Hetherington has paid them the ultimate compliment by claiming the rest of Super League will be out to copy them.

Despite their defeat at Old Trafford in October, Hetherington says, Castleford deserve all the plaudits for their refreshing attacking style in 2017 which brought them 170 tries, compared to 135 by the eventual champions, and enabled them to accumulate 216 points more than the Rhinos in the 30-game regular season as they topped the table for the first time in the club’s 91-year history.

Hetherington, who is Castleford-born, goes as far as to suggest his home-town team’s efforts topped those of the Rhinos’ treble-winning team of 2015 and is poised to rub off on the rest of Super League.

“I believe the 2018 Betfred Super League season will be the most open, competitive and entertaining competition to date and I credit our local rivals for bringing about a significant potential shift in the game,” Hetherington said.

“The game is played pretty much the same throughout the world, but what Castleford did last year deviated from convention by introducing an efficient attacking style of play which proved to be highly successful.

“In winning more games than any other team and scoring a record number of tries, they brought a refreshing style of play to the competition and I do believe it will be emulated by all of the Super League clubs next season and could change the face of the competition.”