Castleford Tigers have been linked with a move for out-of-contract, ex-Widnes and Catalans centre Krisnan Inu, but Daryl Powell has denied the rumours, saying there has been no communication with Inu.
The Tigers were reportedly among a number of clubs interested in Inu, who was made redundant in the light of Widnes’ recent financial issues, which saw them go into administration before being saved by a new, local consortium.
Powell has insisted, however, that they have no plans to make a move for Inu at this time. Saying that his preference is to focus on guiding Castleford through their current injury issues.
“No, there ha’s been no communication from us,” he said. “At this point I am just keen to get some players back fit who we already have at the club. As a club we have always taken a look at the market throughout the season, based on availability. We’ll keep on doing that, but at the moment there is nothing in that.”
With a number of key forwards out injured in the early weeks of the season, Powell has heaped praise on his in-form prop, Liam Watts, for the job he has done in spearheading the Castleford pack thus far. The Tigers have four wins from their first five games, with Watts playing an instrumental figure throughout.
“If you ask any of our players, they will tell you Liam has been our best so far,” Powell said, of the former Hull prop. “Paul McShane has also been exceptional, Peter Mata’utia has been very good at the back, and Shenny [Michael Shenton] has been good.
“They have been the stand-outs, but of all those I think everybody would say Liam has been exceptional. His leadership in practice and within games has been really good. He is on top of his game and there isn’t a tougher more durable front-rower around.”
