Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr was left impressed with a number of his debutants last week, one of which was Wigan Warriors loanee George Hirst.
Hirst, 24, had never played Super League prior to joining Castleford, after being joining the Warriors from Oldham at the start of 2025.
He is yet to break into Matt Peet’s first team, but has made 53 appearances for the Roughyeds in the Championship and League One.
Earning his first top flight opportunity, the forward played the full 80 minutes in the back row, and wowed his new coached, especially given how little time he had to prepare for the game.
Hirst was one of three debutants on the night, as Ashton Golding featured for the first time, scoring against his former club, Huddersfield, whilst Jack Ashworth also made the 17 after completing his suspension.
Carr was more than happy with the efforts of all three men, but Hirst in particular stood out to the former St George Illawarra boss.
After praising him post-match, the Wigan loanee was again a topic of conversation in the Carr’s pre-match press conference to to preview their round four clash with Leeds Rhinos this weekend.
The 24-year-old is only on loan at the club for the month, but the boss was asked if there was a possibility that the move could last a little longer.
“Yeah, certainly,” replied Carr. “I thought he did really well for someone who had only been here 10 days to fit straight into our system.
“That’s all credit to him and how his application and attitude has been.
“As soon as he got here, he just bought in straight away and wanted to be the best teammate he could be. We’re counting on him to continue to grow and continue to get better and better, hopefully every week for us.”
Castleford Tigers boss lose captain to fractured tibia
Hirst’s stay at the OneBore will come at a valuable time, with captain and key forward Alex Mellor set for a lengthy lay-off.
Mellor, a former Huddersfield and Leeds man, has been a consistent performer in his time in Amber and Black, but after fracturing his tibia will now miss the next 6-8 weeks.
Commenting on that loss, Carr said: “It’s a big blow. It’s a big blow losing anyone. You never want to see anyone drop out of your team, but he’s someone who is part of the leadership group there, and [we’ll miss] his influence on and off the field.
“He’s been really good through the week with the boys and making sure he’s helping continue to lead and drive from the front and continue [to make sure] our standards don’t drop off.
“I’ll keep leaning on him in that area until we can get him back.”
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