Castleford Tigers have confirmd that Daniel Smith has signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2023 season.
The 28-year-old has been with Castleford since the 2019 season after making a mid-season switch from Huddersfield Giants to join his hometown team, where he has made 34 appearances to date, five of which have been in 2021.
Now into his third season at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, the prop forward is delighted to be continuing his career with the Tigers.
“I’m over the moon really, it’s a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders. I always wanted to stay here,” Smith told castlefordtigers.com
“I’m glad we’ve got it done now and I can concentrate on winning something and hopefully keep playing consistently.”
Growing up as a fan of the Tigers, Daniel has aims of writing himself and his fellow teammates into the history books of the Club by bringing home a trophy to The Jungle.
“I’m just from down the road, I played all my amateur rugby at Lock Lane and finally found my way here and I love it here. It means a lot for me to play for this club and hopefully this year we can try get some silverware. That would just top it all off.
“Being from and around Cas, they love rugby league, so it would mean so much to me if we could win something, it would be massive.”
The ball-handling forward has missed just two games of the 2021 season so far and believes his best form is still to come.
“I had a big pre-season; I knew I was out of contract, so I wanted to start the season well and put my best foot forward. I missed a couple of games with a little niggle injury, but I feel like I’m finding my form and I feel like I’m only going to get better here.”
Smith shares the same aims as all the first team in 2021; to end Daryl Powell’s tenure as head coach on a high.
“It’d be awesome to get everyone that win, in the Challenge Cup or the league, it would be good to do that.
“I do really think we have a good chance of getting something done here this year.”
Smith confirmed that his focus remains on this current season, but his next head coach has told him that he likes the way he plays on the pitch.
“I’ve had a brief phone call with him, just asking where I’m at and that he likes my style of play, so it was good to touch base with him. I’m just trying to focus on this year, I’ll look to next year when that comes.”
Speaking about the news, Tigers head coach from 2022 Lee Radford said: “Dan is a great ball-handling forward and fits into the mould that Castleford have within the middles.
“For a big fella he’s got really tidy skill and he has that balance in his game of when to play and when to go forward and I’m looking forward to working with him in 2022.”
