Castleford Tigers head coach Craig Lingard has poured water on suggestions that the club have made three major signings for next year, instead highlighting where the club’s money is being spent.
Lingard’s side are winless against Super League opposition this season with their only win coming this past weekend when they knocked Batley Bulldogs out of the Challenge Cup, a game where it did look like the Championship side could spring an upset.
It’s been suggested by plenty of fans that the club haven’t invested enough into their current squad in terms of true Super League quality so when Sky Sports commentator Stuart Pyke revealed the club had set aside money for “three marquee players”, there was plenty of optimism.
Head coach Craig Lingard was asked about that in his presser and sadly for fans of Castleford Tigers he has poured water on the noise, however, he’s outlined a longer-term plan that could reap huge rewards.
“We’ve not signed anyone for next year,” Lingard confirmed.
“What we’ve said is that the plan this year is to make sure we get Super League status secured by focusing the majority of the finances off the field to tick the boxes we need to tick and safeguard the future of Castleford Tigers and remain a Super League club.
“That has obviously impacted on the finances of the first-team squad this year but once the club has secured their Super League status, then the plan next year is to get three top-name players and bring them into the squad and then do the same the year after.
“That’s part of the plan but we’ve not started discussions with anyone yet, we’ve not signed anyone yet, but we are certainly looking at bringing in at least three top-quality players next season and start integrating them and building a really competitive Castleford Tigers squad.”
Castleford Tigers looking at retention as well as recruitment
Credit: Imago Images
One of the key initiatives that Director of Rugby Danny Wilson outlined for his role was to ensure that Castleford Tigers created a younger squad with their matchday 17 often being the oldest average age in Super League last season.
Just three players under the age of 30 played 15 or more games for the club last season, whereas six players aged 30 or over played in over half the club’s games.
Twelve players aged 30 or over departed the club ahead of the 2024 season which highlighted the clear aim to make the squad younger, but that also means keeping their rising stars which is something the club haven’t always managed to do.
Even this past off-season the club lost 23-year-old winger Elliot Wallis to rivals Huddersfield Giants but it’s been outlined by Craig Lingard that retention is something they have a keen eye on, with this season’s performances being a key factor.
He said on Tigers TV: “Conversations have been had with some of those players who are out of contract and hopefully we can make some announcements on those we have already agreed shortly.
“But that will be a process that we go on throughout the season.
“As is always the case with those out of contract it will be based on performance. Some players we might want to keep and they might want to move on. Some we might want to keep but we might not agree on a value with the player.
“There are different combinations and permutations to it all. There might be people here that move on but those discussions haven’t been had yet.
“People are quite rightly playing for contracts and we want to generate some decent performances on the field to make that happen.”
