A ‘New Cas Era’: How are Castleford taking shape for 2022?

Castleford Tigers are entering a new era, a new Head Coach, a set of new players and potentially a new style of Rugby League but how will the Tigers fair in 2022?

Looking back on 2021:

The 2021 season was a mixed one for the Castleford Tigers, they reached the Challenge Cup final at Wembley for the second time under Daryl Powell but lost to St Helens, they then failed to make it into the playoffs with a win on the final day needed to secure a post-season spot. However, a loss to the Warrington Wolves ended a fantastic end of season run.

Injuries played a massive part in the Tigers campaign with 2020 Man Of Steel Paul McShane missing a section of the season and this proved to be an issue for the West Yorkshire club.

The Tigers finished the regular season in 7th place behind Hull Kingston Rovers meaning that the Tigers had missed out on playoff Rugby League for the second season in a row.

“Defence wins games” – Tigers main area of focus in 2022

One of the biggest areas of the game that will need to be improved under new Head Coach Lee Radford is the defence. The Tigers have been known for their attacking flair and entertaining brand of Rugby League but their biggest disappointment and failure is their defence.

When it comes to their goal-line defence, it is strong and resilient; however, at times when they don’t have the ball, they let teams break easily – especially down the middle of the field. This is an issue that was ongoing under Daryl Powell and something he did not quite put his magic spell on.

Recruitment in this area of the pitch was vital for the Tigers in the offseason and they have done that by bringing in Jake Mamo from Warrington Wolves and Alex Sutcliffe from the Leeds Rhinos. Many see as this a vast improvement on the duo of Michael Shenton (retired) and Peter Mata’utia.

Being able to lay a good foundation when it comes to defence is vital, a perfect example of being able to balance defence with a sustainable attack comes from the Tigers themselves.

During the 2017 season, the Tigers played attacking exciting Rugby League as they made their way to the Super League Grand Final. During that season they conceded just 378 and finished the season overall with a points difference of +391.

Along with the defence, discipline will also be looked at as that is another area of the game that the Tigers will need to be focusing on. Last season they lost games due to poor discipline and it could come back to bite them again in 2022.

New Era, New Signings.

The Tigers have already started planning for the future and Lee Radford has made some key signings that will help Castleford improve on their league finish from last season. He has brought in players with experience as well as some young faces.

Bringing in the centre pair of Jake Mamo and Alex Sutcliffe was the best possible business the Tigers could make after losing their centre partnership of last season. Improving their strength through the middle was also vital with Kenny Edwards being another new face through the door.

Full list of incoming signings: Joe Westerman, Jake Mamo, Alex Sutcliffe, Bureta Faraimo, Kenny Edwards, George Lawler, Callum McLelland, Mahe Fonua.