CHRIS CHESTER has admitted that it’s “a huge relief” to get Ryan Carr over the line as Castleford Tigers head coach.

Carr, who has worked in the UK before as head coach of Featherstone Rovers and an assistant at Leeds Rhinos, has signed a three-year deal with the Tigers.

And Chester has revealed that Carr was always his number one candidate and that he will be “perfect” for Castleford.

“It’s a huge relief, I’m absolutely over the moon that we’ve been able to get someone of his calibre through the door,” Chester said.

“I’ve known Ryan for a long time and kept in contact with him. I had a look at him when I initially went to Leigh and just followed his journey.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to in the NRL have had nothing but praise for him. I think it was important we took the time that we did to get the right person.

“The board was very impressed with what he had to say in the presentation and how he connects with the playing group and town.

“I’m relieved that we managed to get him over the line. It’s been harder than I thought, there have been some very good applicants and it was late on Tuesday that we came to that decision.

“He is the perfect coach for the club.”

Chester said of the delay in Carr’s appointment: “The difficulty has been the last week dealing with coaches that are in Australia and then having to deal with an agent in Thailand with time differences being all over the place.

“That has been the difficult, we were always confident of getting our preferred candidate. He blew everybody’s mind with what he can do and how he will do it in the board meeting.

“I am just looking forward to being along in that journey with him.

“He knows the local area, he’s coached in Super League and Championship and got to the Grand Final with Featherstone.

“It was about how he sees the game and how he wants his team to look. He’s not afraid of making big decisions either.

“I think the way he sees the game and his vision and how he wants his Castleford team to look stood out.

“Every day, he wants these guys to be competitive coming in. Every day he comes into work he is going to compete and he spoke really well on his vision for the club.

“There wasn’t a great deal between the two final candidates but Ryan stood out with how he saw the game and how he can improve this team.

“He shares some very similar philosophies to myself in how he thinks the game should be played and I think the fans will be delighted.

“I had a really good conversation with Brad Arthur too, he worked with Ryan at Parramatta in the year they got to the NRL Grand Final.

“He spoke highly of Ryan, I’m just really pleased.”

Chester said that the make-up of Carr’s backroom staff had not yet been discussed.

“Everything is under review but we’ve got some really good experienced coaches here,” he said.

“We’ve got the backroom, performance and medical staff and that review process is still ongoing.

“We have had conversations about the staff and what he wants that to look like next year and we will have a really good look on what the off-field squad looks like.”