Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr has discussed the club’s recruitment stance after the exit of utility Chris Atkin earlier in the week.

Atkin, who signed midway through the 2025 season, departed to sign a permanent deal with Bradford Bulls. The versatile 33-year-old had not played since round two and had made just three appearances this season.

His departure will free up more cap space with Castleford already having access to 26/27th of Blake Taaffe’s salary in dispensation after the full-back suffered a season-ending injury in round one, however, thus far the Tigers have only signed free agent Ashton Golding and Wigan forward George Hirst.

Asked about the club’s recruitment stance, head coach Ryan Carr admitted: “We’re definitely active. We’re actively looking to add to our squad depth.”

Pushed on what positions are being considered, Carr pointed to the obvious position of full-back but added that depth could be desired in the outside backs.

He said: “Obviously, having lost (Blake) Taaffe and Fletcher Rooney to pretty-much season-ending injuries, there’s two full-backs that we went into pre-season that we lost within a week together and we probably need some depth in that outside back region.”

Castleford Tigers coach talks Chris Atkin exit

The Cas coach was also asked about Chris Atkin’s departure, however, he removed himself from the situation and explained his focus to be on the team as he hailed the close-knit nature of the group.

“That’s more of a Chris Chester conversation”, Carr said, adding: “I distance myself from the business side of the game because I’m here to coach my players and build relationships with those players.

“I like to feel like we’ve got a really close-knit group here. I rang Chris (Atkin) and thanked him for everything he has done for us. He’s done his best for me so I couldn’t be anything but thankful for that.

“In terms of the business side of things, that’s more a Chezzy conversation.”

Another topic he wasn’t keen to address was if he’d been able to make contact with the RFL for a meeting after last week’s Challenge Cup clash, with Carr having stated the week prior that he had been refused a meeting to discuss refereeing matters after their round four loss in Super League.

When asked if a meeting had happened, Carr said: “I’d rather not talk about that side, I just want to talk about the game tomorrow and focus on Warrington. It’s a big game for us. There’s some great rugby being played at the moment so I’m just going to channel my energy into tomorrow and that’s all I can control.”