Chase joins Widnes on loan

Rangi Chase has joined Widnes on loan for the remainder of the 2017 season and Castleford have confirmed that he has no future at the club.

Daryl Powell revealed the former England stand-off won’t be part of his plans for 2018 and with his Tigers deal due to expire at the end of 2017, Chase will now see out the remainder of the season with the Vikings.

The news comes after the club launched an internal investigation into an incident that occurred at the Featherstone-Halifax Challenge Cup tie last Thursday, believed to have involved Chase.

“I have nothing but love for Cas as a club, the players, coaches and back room staff, including the fans, it’s a place that will always be close to my heart,” Chase told the Tigers website.

“There are people who are in front of me in my position that are playing very well and some awesome young talent coming through.

“I’m aware that I wasn’t in the plans for the future and I would like to thank Cas for granting me this opportunity to go out and play as much as I can, and I have Cas to thank for making me fall back in love with my childhood dream again.”

Tigers CEO Steve Gill added: “We had a tough decision to make moving forward as a group and unfortunately Rangi wasn’t going to be part of the 2018 squad.

“After speaking with him it was felt that by giving him an opportunity to go out on loan at Widnes and play week in week out, it would give him a great opportunity to earn a contract with them.

“James Rule has made quite a few attempts to take Rangi on loan this year, so we felt this was the right time to let it happen.

“We will all have our individual memories of Rangi and I’m sure you would all like to wish him well in the next chapter of his career.”

The loan agreement does not have a call back option, and Chase will not be able to play against Castleford Tigers this season.