Castleford Tigers could well be keeping a closer eye than ever on neighbours Featherstone as coach Lee Radford tries to steer his charges to this year’s Super League play-offs.
For Championship promotion-chasers Rovers have signed Jack Broadbent – the 21-year-old back expected to switch to Castleford for 2023 – on loan from Leeds for the remainder of this season.
The development came as the Tigers landed Leeds backrower Alex Mellor on a two-and-a-half-year contract which has taken effect immediately, as well as agreeing a deal until 2025 with star second rower Kenny Edwards, who is on loan from Huddersfield for this season.
Having played five times for Leeds in 2022, England Knights international Broadbent, who is coming out of contract, is expected to get more game time as Brian McDermott’s Rovers aim for the Championship play-offs and Million Pound game success.
In total, Academy product Broadbent has made 22 Leeds appearances, the first of them in 2020, and had loan spells at both Featherstone and his hometown club Batley Bulldogs (scoring a combined five tries in 14 games) in 2019.
The former Batley Boys and Dewsbury Moor junior scored two tries on his England Knights debut in the 56-4 win over Jamaica at Castleford’s Mend-a-Hose Jungle in October. He previously played for Yorkshire at Youth level.
Radford, whose side went into their home Super League round 16 clash with Catalans Dragons aiming to consolidate their place in the top-six play-off places, says there is plenty more to come from 27-year-old former Bradford and Huddersfield player Mellor, who had been at Leeds since 2020.
“Alex is a really athletic, strike ball player on an edge, I’ve always been impressed with him and he’s probably not struck the chords that he wanted to so far this year,” he explained.
“I think we’re picking up someone who we can try to get back into the swing of things and enjoy his rugby again. He’s of the age where his best years are still in front of him and I think he will be a good coup for us.”
On 32-year-old Edwards, Radford said: “Kenny has been really good since he came through the door here.
“He epitomises a lot of what we want to be about in how he approaches training and the games as well.”
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