Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell believes the club have a chance of having an even better squad in 2015 than this year – despite several key players departing the club following last night’s play-off defeat to Warrington.
The Tigers were tipped by many to be in the fight for relegation at the beginning of the year, but managed to finish fourth on the Super League ladder – as well as a Challenge Cup final appearance which ultimately ended in defeat.
Stars such as Weller Hauraki, Daryl Clark and Craig Huby will all head for pastures new in the off season, but Powell believes that with the players coming in – such as Bradford’s Luke Gale and Melbourne duo Junior Moors and Ben Roberts – there is the potential for Cas to be even better next year.
“There are some good players leaving but I think we’ve got a lot of good players coming in,” Powell said.
“On balance, I think we’ve a good chance of having a better squad next year.
“Obviously there are a couple of players there who have been exceptional this year. We need to get a bit more out of the players who are already here and, if we’ve got our recruitment right, the new boys will improve us. That’s the plan.”
Powell also believes the squad have instilled pride in the Castleford name once again, and is hoping that the success the club have enjoyed in 2014 can spur them on to bigger and better things in the future.
“It’s been a really, really good year and close to being a great year,” he added.
“We’ve put Cas back on the map. I think people are proud to come and support the team and hopefully we can go on from this.”
