Lee Radford says performance wise Castleford Tigers didn’t need friendly against Featherstone Rovers

Castleford Tigers coach Lee Radford has returned to the club this weekend after heading to Samoa to celebrate helping them to the Rugby League World Cup Final as assistant to Matt Parish.

Speaking on Tigers TV, Radford spoke about heading to Samoa for this experience:

“Fantastic experience, it was a very humbling experience, one I was overwhelmed with to see such a beautiful part of the world.

“There is not a great deal to do on the island itself, it was very relaxing. There were some dinners and ceremonies which we did as a group to reward the success we had at the group.”

In his absence, Andy Last led the Tigers against Featherstone Rovers in a pre-season friendly on New Year’s Eve.

Radford opened up on what he thought of the friendly admitting that from a performance point of view you don’t need a friendly in December.

He said:

“I thought we were off in some areas, I thought our contact was off. With the point of pre-season that it is, there is plenty of time for us to fix it up and improve.

“It was tough conditions too. The weather is very difficult. In an ideal world in terms of performance, you probably don’t need a friendly right there. There was a good crowd and I can see why the picture was put in place.

“It was a good experience for some blokes, and hopefully some of them will be wiser of what is expected of them going forward.”