Castleford Tigers boss facing 'bigger' job than he expected
Director of rugby Chris Chester has admitted it has been a bigger challenge than he expected to turn Castleford Tigers’ fortunes round.
Chester was brought in last May with the aim of sorting out the club’s recruitment and rebuild the Tigers' fortunes.
But it has not been plain sailing for him with an early decision to change head coach and there have been further bumps in the road in 2026 with big defeats to Warrington Wolves and Wakefield Trinity.
He is still confident Castleford are on the right path, however, and have the right man to lead them in Australian headcoach Ryan Carr.
On the job he has at Cas he told Sky Sports: “It’s bigger than what I thought when I first walked in.
"We had to make some changes. I felt there was a real disconnect in the club – staff, players, disconnect with the fans. Everything looked run down and in disrepair.
"I knew it was going to take some time and knew it was going to be a big challenge, but probably didn’t realise until I actually walked through the door on the first day how big a job it was going to be.
"We’ve got Ryan Carr now and he is a good tactical coach, he’s a deep thinker of the game, he’s helped reconnect with the fans and he’s very detailed in his sessions.
"And what he is is very, very passionate.”
Chester admitted it was a huge blow to lose star signing Blake Taaffe to a season ending injury so early in the year.
He said: “We’d just had a full pre-season and done probably 10 weeks with Blake Taaffe there and it didn’t help that we lose Fletcher Rooney then to a hamstring and he’s out 16 weeks so the two full-backs you have at the club are both injured.
"It was devastating for him and devastating for the club. But it’s my job now to find somebody else in to a do a good job.”
On what Cas have to do in the rest of the season Chester added: “We need the town to be proud of this club again – I think they are fed up of words.
"Ryan Carr’s main target is that we leave everything on the field.”
Carr will be hoping his players are refreshed following a week off as they return to Super League action at Wigan Warriors on Sunday. He should have outside back Semi Valemei available again after he missed the previous game after failing an HIA and after his promising start in a Cas shirt that will provide a boost.