After his best display yet Castleford Tigers are looking to tie rising star Krystian Mapapalangi down to a long term deal.
Mapapalangi was man of the match and inspirational in the Tigers’ shock 24-14 win at Wigan Warriors, earning huge praise from supporters and his head coach Ryan Carr.
While results have been mixed for Cas and the jury is still out on several of the new recruits for 2026, the 23-year-old Australian has been consistently impressive, forming a great left side attacking combination with winger Jason Qareqare since his arrival on a two-year deal from NRL outfit Wests Tigers.
And after the game Carr admitted he wants to keep the player beyond the two years he has signed for.
Krystian Mapapalangi has formed an exciting left edge partership with Jason Qareqare. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
He said: “He’s what we knew we bought. That’s why we went and bought him. He just needed an opportunity and needed someone to believe in him.
“We knew he was a talented player but we knew he was a really good person too, so that’s why we went after him and we’re really happy that he’s here with us.
“He’s done a great job for us and I’m going to keep challenging him to get better because I think there is more in him, we’re going to keep going after that.
“We’d love to keep him with us for a long time. He’s happy, he’s in a good space and he’s playing some really good footy in our system. That’s the way it should be, you help each other get better.
“He’s helping us get better and we’re doing our best to help him get better. I love coaching him.”
Mapapalangi told Sky Sports that he is enjoying his role at Castleford and believes the team is still developing.
He said: “We’re just working hard each week. We know we can play footy and we’re still building confidence.
“We’re still a new side, it’s only round eight and there’s plenty of rounds to go. To the Cas fans, just stay with us and we’ll come away with more wins.
“After the Wakefield game we had a players only meeting where we said we want to be accountable for our actions and we can’t be saying sorry here and there.
“But we showed we still have confidence. Hopefully we can get some more wins.”
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