When Castleford fans heard they had signed Garry Lo in September 2017 from Sheffield Eagles they were filled with optimism. A try-machine at Sheffield - he had scored 50 tries in 46 appearances - Lo was highly thought of at the South Yorkshire club. The Papua New Guinean international then went on to have a storming World Cup with the Kumuls, attracting the attention of fans, pundits and undoubtedly other teams. But, Castleford had already snared their man and there were high hopes for the powerhouse winger that he could replicate the same sort of form for the Tigers in 2018.

No sign of Lo

However, wind the clock forward to the start of the 2018 season and Garry Lo had been shipped back to Sheffield on-loan, raising questions about why Castleford had a quota space wasting away in the Championship. Nine rounds in and still there was no sign of the PNG ace, despite the fact that Greg Eden had been in and out of the side with injury.

In fact, Eden has played in just three out of ten rounds of the 2018 season so far with James Clare filling in for the most part. Though Clare has been a solid addition to the first-team, Lo adds something extra - Sheffield fans should know as they had seen him don the Eagles' shirt in 2016 and 2017 and they speak very highly of him.

Critics of Lo may highlight the fact that he has only played in the second tiers of both Australian and British Rugby League - for the PNG Hunters in the Intrust Super Cup and the Sheffield Eagles in the Championship - and that his defensive game leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Lo is sometimes out of position and showed his defensive frailties in the World Cup, but add into the mix his incredibly physical attacking game and massive hits when he does get it right in defence and Lo gives a side something extra. There is an excitement amongst supporters when Lo gets the ball - an energy which undoubtedly transfers onto the field too.

Given a shot

When Lo was finally given his debut against Wigan in Castleford's round ten match, he did not look out of place whatsoever. In fact, Lo was the only Castleford player to make it on to the four-man man-of-the-match list live on Sky Sports. He did not win the accolade, but the fact that he was even chosen to be on the shortlist suggests the PNG flier impressed.

The Castleford faithful did not have long to wait and see what Lo was capable of. Early in the first half, the ball went to ground near the Tigers' line. Lo was the first to react, kicking ahead and showing brilliant pace before his last touch let him down - though he superbly regathered ahead of the chasing Wigan defence. The PNG international made 130 metres with an average gain of 7.22 metres, putting in some great runs to help the Tigers out of defence.

Though his try was made easy by full-back Jake Trueman's well-timed pass, Lo still had to be in the right place at the right time whilst defensively his partnership with Michael Shenton appeared to work well and he was not found wanting in the defensive line.

With Jy Hitchcox currently on-loan at Bradford - a deal which means he cannot be recalled for a month - and with Greg Eden still sat on the sidelines following another hamstring injury, Lo deserves to keep his place for Friday's visit of Wakefield and for the foreseeable future.