CASTLEFORD TIGERS are currently without a permanent head coach.
Though Radford’s assistant, Andy Last, has taken the reins on an interim basis, there is no inkling as of yet who the next boss will be.
With Radford’s departure, however, there left a number of questions including: why so soon into a new season?
Well, for Sky Sports analyst Jon Wells, who spent a number of years at The Jungle as director of rugby, he believes that the club and Radford were going in different directions.
“The simple fact is that substantive change needs a will and a way. The way to go, to be frank, is investment,” Wells said on Sky Sports.
“It is an injection of money to make meaningful and substantive changes across the board. That is the crux of the matter where Lee Radford and the club see things a little bit differently.
“Coaches want investment in clubs, they want a better squad, cutting edge strength and conditioning facilities and the club has a limited budget.
“The salary cap for 2023 is £2.1 million and central distribution is £1.5 million. That means there is a £600k shortfall to reach the cap.”
That left Wells believing that Radford was ‘frustrated’ and future coaches could well be too.
“Any coach wants to develop homegrown players like Wigan and Saints do. They then become frustrations because the club is working hard to fill that shortfall and push on and give that coach what he wants and the coach wants those at his disposal already.
“It’s a massive challenge for clubs who don’t have a massive benefactor. If things don’t change they will be frustrations for coaches to come.”
