Former Castleford Tigers man latest to commit to IMG high flyers

Former Castleford Tigers man Conor Fitzsimmons is the latest in a long string of players to either sign or re-sign for one side.

York Knights have seen the former Tigers man re-up on a new one-year deal at the LNER Stadium with the 26-year-old being one of several former Castleford players at the club.

Former Castleford Tigers skipper Paul McShane is York’s major signing this off-season whilst Super League youngster turned Love Island star Jacques O’Neill is back involved with the sport having signed for York.

There’s plenty of pulling power for the club based in North Yorkshire, as exemplified by some of those recruits, and that’s in part due to rising status under the IMG grading system.

After increasing their provisional score by 2.38 points to an official score of 12.42, the Knights were labelled as a ‘real standout’ by RL Commercial’s Rhodri Jones who also confirmed that they “have the ingredients to become a very strong Super League proposition in the future”.

Key to that will be maintaining strong performances, something that the re-signing of Fitzsimmons will certainly help with.

Former Castleford Tigers man re-signs with York Knights

The 26-year-old joined the Knights from Workington Town ahead of the 2023 season and has since made 53 appearances for the Championship outfit.

He has become an important member of the Knights’ pack and the Cumbrian’s new deal has been praised heavily by head coach Mark Applegarth.

“I’m really happy we’ve got Fitzy over the line for next year,” the former Wakefield boss said in a club statement.

“He showed glimpses of what he can do last year, and the challenge for him this year is to do it on a consistent basis and really earn that spot in the team.”

Fitzsimmons made his Super League debut for Castleford Tigers back in 2016, coming off the bench with his new teammate Paul McShane.

McShane had arrived at the LNER Stadium earlier this off-season, signing a two-year deal where he will also serve on the club’s coaching team. Since that news, assistant coach Paul Cooke has left meaning McShane’s off-field duties could increase.