In the midst of his disappointment following the 44-0 defeat to Hull KR, Castleford Tigers Director of Rugby Chris Chester provided a recruitment update ahead of 2027.
Chester fronted the media last night in the absence of boss Ryan Carr, who has stepped down from his role due to “personal reasons”, per a club statement.
Chester, alongside Rob Nickolay [Head of Pathways] and Scott Murrell [assistant coach], took coaching duties this week, and were helped by former Man of Steel duo Adrian Vowles and Danny Brough.
With the Director unable to put a definite timeframe on when a verdict on Carr could be expected, he called for clarity, so that both the club and fans could start to align again after a toxic atmosphere at the Onebore Stadium last night.
With Carr’s situation labelled “above him”, one aspect of the job that is more his remit is recruitment, and signing players for next year.
Like every coach, he stated that recruitment is an “ongoing thing,” but reassured fans that some of their next additions from the NRL, are still on track to join the club, despite uncertainty over Carr.
It was reported in Australia that Chester had been forced to contact Dragons trio Tyrell Sloan, Mat Feagai and Damien Cook this week, reassuring them that Castleford is still the club for them.
Chester explained how “there’s nobody getting cold feet,” and he is “fairly confident” that all three will arrive ahead of the new year.
Moving on to potential exits, he told the press: “Like every club, there’s going to be players that leave. There’s going to be players who are contracted that maybe need to leave. There’s lots to do.”
Admitting that some of this year’s problems could be down to him, he explained: “I’ve got to hold my hands up quite a bit here in terms of recruitment. Maybe I’ve, well not maybe, I’ve made some wrong decisions, but you live and die by those decisions, and I’m man enough to admit that I’ve got quite a bit wrong this year.
“I’m hopeful that we as a club can turn things around, and I’m fairly confident for 27 we can do.”
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Castleford Tigers identify key areas of improvement ahead of 2027
It’s very easy to see that the part of the pitch Tigers need to improve in is the middle unit, with Chester agreeing to that notion.
Asked how many more potential bodies could come through the door before 2027 recruitment is complete, he replied: “We’ve identified very early doors that we lack size. Teams are steamrolling us through the middle of the field, so we are looking at potentially some bigger bodies.
“It’s a daily thing. We probably need to freshen up another three or four on top of what we’ve already brought in.”
