After Castleford Tigers announced that Australian Ryan Carr will be their next permanent head coach, we take a look at his career to date, and where you may remember him from.
The Tigers have appointed Carr on a three-year deal, as they look to rebuild a brand new squad and culture at the club. Failing to reach the play-offs since 2019, he will be the eighth coach (including interims) since that play-off run ended at the semi-final stage.
Carr, 37, will take the reigns from interim boss and director of rugby, Chris Chester at the start of pre-season, which after recent performances Chester believes “can’t come quick enough.”
After handing Danny McGuire a three-year deal, only to sack him less than 20 games into his first ever top flight coaching gig, Chester and the club hope that Carr can be the man to take them forward, and bring some success back to the Onebore Stadium.
So, who is the new boss and why is he a good fit for Castleford Tigers?
A full profile on new Castleford Tigers boss, Ryan Carr
Born in Sydney, Carr grew up as an aspiring player, and came through the ranks at Cronulla Sharks. Moves to North Queensland Cowboys, Balmain Tigers and Redcliffe Dolphins followed, however he ended up at South Sydney Rabbitohs, where he retired aged 24 in 2012, without making a senior NRL appearance.
After being an assistant coach at multiple clubs, his break into coaching came at the Rabbitohs, where in 2017 he became their U20s head coach. One of his assistants at the time was former Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons winger, Pat Richards.
A move to NSW Cup side, Mounties, came about in 2018, before he moved to the UK in 2019 to take over as head coach of Featherstone Rovers. Carr would become Featherstone’s youngest ever coach, and took them to a promotion play-off final in 2019, which they eventually lost against Toronto Wolfpack.
He returned to Australia at the end of that season, and made the move to Parramatta Eels to be their NSW Cup head coach. His first season in charge was cancelled due to Covid-19, as was part of the 2021 season, however after 18 wins from 31 matches and the departure of David Kidwell to rugby union, he was promoted to first team assistant coach alongside current Leeds Rhinos boss, Brad Arthur.
Ahead of 2023, he moved to St George Illawarra as an assistant, where he will remain until the end of this season. Part-way through his first year at the Dragons, head coach Anthony Griffin was sacked, meaning he took on his first NRL coaching job, albeit on an interim basis. During that time, he won three games out of 14 as they finished one place above the wooden spoon.
Carr will now make the move back to the UK to coach Castleford, and if his first stint in West Yorkshire is anything to go by, Castleford have brought in a promising young talent.
Let the journey begin! 👊🏻#COYF 🐯 pic.twitter.com/08XUvapa1u
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) August 21, 2025
