Castleford Tigers head coach Craig Lingard has confirmed that the club intend to make “three or four quality signings” for 2025 after conceding that his side aren’t yet good enough to compete in Super League.
Those comments came after the Tigers’ 36-6 loss to Hull KR on Friday night with Lingard stating that the club’s aim is to finish ‘top of the bottom four’, a position they can move into if they beat Huddersfield Giants at Magic Weekend.
Speaking post-game on Sky Sports, Lingard explained: “We’ve got an opportunity to try and get above Huddersfield in that bottom four and try to be the top of the bottom four and that’s our ultimate goal this year. If we can do that, then as negative as it sounds, it’s been a successful season for us.”
A mid-season revival saw Castleford win three games on the bounce but they’ve since slipped to three defeats in a row and Lingard has accepted that it’s simply a reflection of where the Tigers are as a team.
“We’ve got a fair share of injuries but we’re not using that as an excuse. It’s just where we are as a group. We’ve got players that haven’t played at the top-end Super League teams and consistently played in Super League. So it’s a massive learning curve for these players.”
He did offer a positive update for fans though as he discussed the club’s recruitment strategy for 2025. Lingard also explained that Castleford Tigers will be better on account of the experience gained by much of the playing group this year.
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“We’re working out behind the scenes recruitment-wise,” Lingard explained.
“We’ve given a lot of these players a lot of first-team rugby this year, so they’re going to be 20 or 25 Super League games more experienced at the start of next season compared to where they were at the start of this season.
“We’re hoping to get maybe three or four quality signings that are going to improve our current 17 and build on that. So we know it’s going to be this three-year plan that we’ve got. We know it’s not going to happen overnight, but I guess at this moment in time we’re probably a little bit ahead of where we thought we were going to be.”
He also lauded the improved performance on a smaller salary cap spend, stating: “We’ve got more points than we had last season on a much lower budget. We’re just really conscious now that we don’t let the season peter out and be at the negative end of the season.”
Castleford Tigers will take on Huddersfield Giants at Magic Weekend before hosting Warrington Wolves at The Jungle.
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