ALL those associated with Castleford Tigers will have been glad to see the back of the 2023 Super League season.
After just six wins from 27 games, the Tigers scraped survival by just four points as local rivals Wakefield Trinity faced the second tier for the first time since 1999.
During the season, the Tigers made a number of new signings, including the likes of Riley Dean, Will Tate, Billy Tsikrikas and Alex Foster.
Now, Castleford’s director of rugby, Danny Wilson, has explained the difficulty of bringing in players overseas during a season.
“There are a lot of things about recruitment from overseas. You have to qualify for a visa first of all, they have to play 50% of their NRL games in the last two years and if they haven’t they need to play 75% of international games in the last two years. They have to qualify,” Wilson told The COYFCast podcast.
“You have to have the budget and make sure the head coach is happy and make sure they want to come and the club wants to release them.
“We had Kayal Iro agreed, we ticked them all off and the club wouldn’t release him. We actually went big financially on him, we felt he was a Jake Mamo-type replacement. We offered a significant deal, he accepted and the agent spoke to his club at Cronulla Sharks and they said he wasn’t leaving.
“It was disappointing to go all that way, I understand why the club wouldn’t let him go because he is a talented player.”
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The former Hull FC man explained that Wakefield’s win over Wigan Warriors earlier in the season was the turning point for the club to go full steam ahead in the transfer market.
“I think we spoke to 70 players and there was a moment where we thought we would be safe because of Wakefield and then they beat Wigan.
“It was at that point that the club put the foot fully on the pedal and we worked 20 hours a day for seven to ten days to get players over the line.
“Was it too late at that point? Potentially but at the same time if you are confident in your squad to compete you are already spend the cap, you need to spend more. That was a turning point for us.”
Wilson did, however, dismiss claims that Castleford do not go hunting overseas for new blood.
“If ever there was a decision not to go to NRL or overseas then that must have been before me. We have scouts in Australia that work hard for us. It’s never been a narrative for us not to do that, it has been an open door.
“We want players who will compete every day in training and every week in the game. We want ambitious players, hungry to achieve. We want a squad at £2.2 million to be performing at £3 million. We want people who want to move on with their career with Castleford.
“That player pool in NRL and NSW cup that fits the mould. We want young English talents like Jack Broadbent and if that talent is in that market then we will look there too.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL COYFCAST PODCAST HERE.
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