Castleford Tigers head coach Lee Radford looking forward to having more homegrown players in the first team

Radford is as delighted as anyone at the club that Elite Academy status has been fully restored for the next five years and reaffirmed his desire for more young players to break through and play for his first team at Wheldon Road.

“All of us at the Tigers are over the moon, it was a massive disappointment last year to come in and find out the news that the licence was going to be taken away from us, but I think it is a credit to a lot of the hard work that has gone on with our club, the Foundation and Rob Nickolay.

“I am an advocate for the game in general and bringing the kids through. I think as a sport we have not got enough participants playing at the moment.

"The more we get, the better the youth system is and the better that is then the better the end product is – it is a long-term philosophical view, but I think it is the right one.”

Castleford Tigers new boy Jack Broadbent out to claim centre spot

Radford is aiming to lower the average age of his first team squad and eager to see more young Castleford players regularly playing Super League matches again for the Tigers.

He added: “I think it will be a little bit more of the elbow grease that has already been put in because the progression we have made is fantastic over a 12-month period, but we are not standing still, we want to get better and better.

"Our recruitment wants to be around this area at a Scholarship and Academy level and it gives us a better opportunity of filling our top squad with young Castleford talent.”