There have been calls that the current crop of youngsters at the Tigers are “the best in a long time,” with 20-year-old Brad Martin making his first appearance of the season against Wigan.
Martin joined the Tigers in the 2020 pre-season and was excited to get on the pitch against the Warriors.
“I thought did okay, to be honest, I was just excited to get out there,”said Martin on the Castleford club website.
“I said to myself that they would be aggressive with us so I just wanted to get out there and try put some big hits in straight away and make my mark as best I can and try to get my name known.
“They’re a tough side Wigan so these are the games you want to be playing in, but I was just excited to get some minutes under my belt and I thought I did okay standing up to them but there is always room for improvement.
“The aim is to get more appearances, I set myself a goal in pre-season of how many games I want to play, and I think to get my first in so early in Round four is pleasing, I want to earn more minutes and games.”
Martin signed a contract extension before the season began, alongside fellow youngsters Cain Robb and Brad Graham, another two players who are developing within the Castleford system.
“We have a good young bunch of players at the club, some have been saying it’s the best in a long time, but we all want to push each other, and we all work hard and we all just want that opportunity to play and show what we can do.”
Surrounded by talented and experienced players in a professional environment is a huge opportunity that the club’s young guns are not allowing to go to waste, as they keep learning from their teammates.
“We’re all still doing that, there is a bunch of young lads like me, Sam Hall and Lewis Peachey who are middles, and Millo [Grant Millington] for example, has been really good with us this year through pre-season.
“He has really been helping us and giving us tips here and there, but I still think if we take a bit off each player then it will help us massively. Everyone has really helped us this season especially all the forwards.”
The defeat at the DW Stadium was Castleford’s first of the season, but Martin was keen to stress that positives could still be taken from the result.
“We have won three from four [in Super League] and have started the season really well even though we lost this game, Wigan are one of the top sides in the comp probably, so I think we have done well and stuck in there.
“I think the scoreline doesn’t show what the game was like and I think that we gave them a good fight, to be honest, but there are improvements in us and we can take some positives out of it all.”
Castleford Tigers
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