Castleford confirm Giants' lowly status

While the title race is still wide open, the destination of the wooden spoon has been confirmed, with Huddersfield-Sheffield condemned to bottom spot after a 28-14 home defeat by Castleford.

While the title race is still wide open, the destination of the wooden spoon has been confirmed, with Huddersfield-Sheffield condemned to bottom spot after a 28-14 home defeat by Castleford.

The Tigers winger Jon Wells scored tries either side of half-time to seal the fate of the Giants, who also finished bottom of Super League in 1998 and 1999.

Despite the unwanted hat-trick Tony Smith, the new Giants coach, is resisting the temptation to make changes. "We still have another game to go at Halifax on Sunday, and I won't be making any decisions just yet," he said. "There were a lot of encouraging signs, and I want to see more improvement next week. Only then will I make any decisions about who stays or who goes."

Wakefield produced a spirited performance to end a traumatic week with a creditable 26-18 defeat by Warrington at Belle Vue.

Alan Hunte, who began his professional career at Wakefield, scored two tries as the Wolves avenged two earlier defeats by the Wildcats to leapfrog Hull into sixth place.

Halifax introduced their returning scrum-half Gavin Clinch, signed from the Giants, to the home crowd before kick-off against Salford, but it was another old boy - half-back Graham Holroyd - who stole the show. Holroyd forced his way over from close range for a fifth-minute try to put the Reds on their way to a 29-12 win.

The former Wigan winger Tony Iro has rejected a plea to come out of retirement to play for the Cook Islands in the upcoming World Cup. His younger brother Kevin is expected to be named captain.