CASTLEFORD TIGERS go into tonight’s fixture against St Helens with a spring in their step.
After enduring a difficult start to the 2023 Super League season, the West Yorkshire club registered their fourth win last week against Warrington Wolves.
With captain Paul McShane suffering a broken arm in the fixture against Salford Red Devils the previous week, Alex Mellor stepped in as captain.
And Castleford head coach Andy Last has confirmed that Mellor will continue to be captain in McShane’s absence.
“He will continue to captain the side for the foreseeable future. Obviously he was named vice captain at the start of the year and I don’t think he has done anything wrong to have that prestigious position taken from him,” Last said.
“Paul McShane is injured at the moment so Alex has stepped up and he leads by example. He is a good trainer, good communicator and did a good job last week behind the sticks in motivating the team and encouraging them when he needed to.”
McShane’s absence also gave Last another headache against Warrington: who would play hooker?
Nathan Massey, who will be out for six to eight weeks with an MCL injury, was named at number nine, but Jack Broadbent appeared to be the man stepping in at acting half.
Now Last has revealed that Broadbent will again play that role, with Cain Robb coming off the bench.
“Jack’s very versatile, he is looking forward to it as he enjoyed that role from an attacking point of view last week.
“We will look to start Jack in that game to be a run threat with a view to then bringing Cain Robb on. Both of those two players offer quick, athletic running threats and we will need to try and create ruck tempo against St Helens.
“He will do a lot more defending this week which is an area that he needs to improve on in terms of physicality, getting his body in front.
“He will do that in the middle of the field against big bodies but he’s someone I have got a lot of confidence in and he applies himself in the best way.”
There has been much upheaval in the Castleford side during the season with the likes of Jake Mamo, Adam Milner and Daniel Smith departing The Jungle whilst Will Tate and Riley Dean have both joined the club.
In terms of looking forward to 2024, Last has explained that the club has done ‘ok’ so far in recruiting for next season.
“We have done ok from a recruitment point of view. We have identified what we wanted, lowering the age profile of our squad, getting younger guys in with a point to prove with desire and ambition,” Last said.
“We have done ok with a view to next year, but we are still very much focused on this year and I don’t feel comfortable with where we currently sit on the table.”
The Tigers boss is also keen to ensure Castleford keep moving up the table.
“We want to be looking up the table and trying to reel in the Huddersfields and Hull FCs and look even further up the table.
“We are not happy with the way we have played or the results we have had so that is a big focus and making sure we get some wins and good performance to use for next year. But also our fans deserve better than what we’ve showed this year.
“We want to be consistent, we want to back up a strong performance against a good side at home and do it on the road against St Helens.”
