Castleford star signs new contract

Castleford Tigers have announced that Jordan Turner has agreed to a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2023 season.

Turner has had a terrific start to his time with the Tigers, making eight appearances and scoring seven tries in the process. With nearly 300 top-flight matches under his belt, he has also added his wealth of experience and further competition to the Tigers’ backline.

Speaking about the news to castlefordtigers.com, a delighted Jordan Turner said; “Although it’s been short for the past five or six months, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time and I’m delighted to be on board for the next two years. I think there are some exciting times to come.”

The contract extension is further good news for Jordan, who is celebrating his testimonial year in 2021.

“With it being my testimonial year and the World Cup coming up at the end of the year too, we’ve got some big games coming up in the next few weeks, obviously I would love to get a Challenge Cup final win under my belt. Later, in the year we want to be contending for the Grand Final, on the back of that there’s my testimonial game.”

The 32-year-old’s versatility has been welcomed by Castleford’s first-team, and Turner himself has been enjoying the chances to play in different roles.

“It was something that Powelly (Daryl Powell) told me when I signed for the club, he told me that he predominantly saw me as a centre, which I’ve not had a crack at yet! He said he saw me being able to fill in positions when we have problems in the squad, and I’ve enjoyed my time playing on the wing. That dual role I’ve had with Shenny (Michael Shenton) is something that I have really enjoyed.

“I like being able to be the person that the coaching staff depend on when they’ve got holes in the squad that they can’t really fill and that has been my role for a number of years now, it’s something that I think I’m quite good at.”

The former England Knight has a great scoring record so far in his Cas career, and he outlined that he has his eye on adding even before this campaign comes to an end.

“I like scoring tries, I suppose everyone does really, I think over the past couple of years my try-scoring record has not been as good as what it had been beforehand, I’d like to score a few more before the season’s out.”

The Tigers are only one game away from a Betfred Challenge Cup Final appearance at Wembley and Turner stated that the team is motivated to end Daryl Powell’s time with Castleford on a high.

“I’ve got on really well with Powelly and I’m really grateful for him bringing me to the club and I’d hope that we could send him out with a bang this year, especially with the Challenge Cup coming up, I know it would mean a lot him and it would mean a lot to me.

“I think the ethos and what he has put into the club over the last eight or nine years, I think he deserves to go off with a bit of a bang.”

In 2022 Turner will be coached by Lee Radford, a man he is looking forward to reuniting with, having played together at Hull FC.

“Going into next year with Lee (Radford), someone who was my teammate for two or three years, we get on really well and he sort of looked after me when I was a young kid, and on the whole he is someone that I’ve got massive respect for and consider one of my good mates.

“It will be great to work with him, I was made up that he wanted me to stay on for the next couple of years. I think it’s going to be an exciting couple of years, it’s going to be a bit of a transition, but I think Lee is the right man to lead the club through that transition.”

Castleford Tigers head coach from 2022 Lee Radford is pleased to be retaining the services of Jordan Turner for the next two seasons.

“Jordan is a great bloke and I have a really good relationship with him so, I’m delighted to get his extension over the line,” said Radford.

“He seems to have found an extra gear with Castleford and I’m hoping I can continue that, and that I can further nurture that as well because he has been in brilliant form at the start of this year.”