CASTLEFORD TIGERS’ director of rugby Danny Wilson has explained why Blake Austin and Kieran Hudson left The Jungle.
Austin came in as an SOS towards the back end of Castleford’s dreadful 2023 season, helping the club earn survival with two wins from their final six games.
However, in terms of recruitment for 2024, Wilson admitted that most of Castleford’s business has already been done for next season with the chief explaining Austin’s exit.
“We’ve done a lot of our business early but it isn’t finished and wasn’t finished. The players of Blake’s calibre, you can’t ignore that and what he can give,” Wilson said on The COYFCast podcast.
“We wanted to give him six games to get a really good look at him, it was a consideration. We spoke with the board and probably for the value he could get somewhere else, we probably needed to move in a different direction in terms of our recruitment and what we are looking at in terms of a different player profile.
“You get players that have had big experiences elsewhere and fetch a good salary -and rightly so – but don’t always perform for the next 12 or 24 months so we need to be a bit stronger in our beliefs and where we ned to take the squad.
“Blake will get a contract that is the right price for him, we are grateful for everything he has done but we need to move in a different direction.”
Another player that has exited Castleford is young forward Kieran Hudson, with the former Whitehaven man expected to join Leeds Rhinos.
Wilson has revealed that the Tigers offered Hudson the same deal as the Rhinos, but that the young forward decided to leave.
“Lee Radford identified him and got him over, we had to agree to a friendly to take Kieran early which we did. He spent that time with us. Pre-season he ripped it up and came back, he was in incredible shape and we were thinking he could play ten Super League games this year. We heard a snap and he was on the floor.
“It was a terrible time, he has been with us all year, we have rehabbed him and he is excited for the future. There was a point where we sat down with him and expressed that another club had come in from him. We matched the offer and he chose to go.
“I think he has got family connections with Leeds. We want people that want to play for Castleford Tigers.”
In recent weeks, press speculation has been circulating that the Tigers will be operating at a smaller playing budget for 2024 – something which Wilson has now confirmed, though there will be 30 players in the Castleford squad next season.
“At the minute there would be money held back from the playing budget, hopefully we get more investment in.
“The TV money is smaller, fans are massively important to revenue. The impact of that TV money, in order to run a sustainable club, holding some back is the way the club want to go.
“You can spend the full cap, we spent it this year in a relegation battle but spending cap doesn’t mean you will win every week. As long as you manage it well, there is no reason why you can’t have a good crack.
“There is a plan, there is a mindset we need to form at Castleford.”
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