CHRIS CHESTER has revealed that “a lot of” players will be leaving Castleford Tigers at the end of the 2025 Super League season.
After a dismal campaign, with the Tigers sitting third bottom with just four wins from 18 league games, change is in the air at The Jungle.
Danny McGuire is no longer head coach as director of rugby Chris Chester aims to bring in a new boss under the oversight of new owner Martin Jepson.
Recruitment and retention has been aggressive so far and Chester has revealed that the Castleford side will look very different in 2026.
“We’ve got a squad and the players know which ones are staying. There are a lot of guys moving on and that’s been communicated to them or through their agents,” Chester said.
“It’s important we use these eight or nine weeks to give chances to other players. This week probably isn’t the right game but we will get some opportunities over the next few weeks to give Jenson Windley a crack.
“He is coming back from a HIA, physically we need to make sure he is there defensively. I can see people like Jenson getting a chance.
“They are playing for contracts at other clubs so you’d like to think they aren’t putting the cue in the rack.”
Of course, the Tigers are currently in a rut, going down 30-12 to Huddersfield Giants a fortnight ago before capitulating at Salford last weekend.
And Chester believes that there is little confidence running through the playing group at present.
“It’s just a reflection of where we are at as a playing group at the minute. We’ve got a distinct lack of confidence and belief in the playing group,” Chester said.
“It would have been very easy for me to rock up a video review with a baseball bat and say this isn’t good enough but my role this week has been to pump the tyres up.
“I don’t want to feel the pressure. It’s the main reason why I do the job that I do now.”