Castleford Tigers director of rugby Chris Chester has opened up on just what his latest two signings will add to his side next season.
Over the last week Castleford have announced the signings of Mikaele Ravalawa from St George Illawarra Dragons and Semi Valemei from North Queensland Cowboys. Both players are Fiji internationals and both play on the wing, with Chester moving to strengthen his side’s outside back ranks as a matter of urgency.
It’s fair to say that whilst they are both powerful presences on the field, the two signings know where the try line is, too. Valemei may have struggled for opportunities in the NRL, but he has scored 14 tries in 17 games for the Cowboys over the last three seasons, including four in the last fortnight.
Ravalawa will be more of a familiar name, given he has notched up over 100 NRL appearances so far in his career, with 67 tries coming along the way.
Indeed both signings have sparked excitement and Chester believes they could go a long way towards resolving one of this season’s biggest issues for the Tigers.
“Just two big bodies that are going to get us out of backfield,” Chester said when asked about Ravalawa and Valemei. “We’ve identified that as being a big issue this year, not being able to get far enough up the field to get any kind of field position.
“Two international wingers, both similar qualities and both have got try scoring record and I’ve noticed in Semi’s last two games he’s scored four. Both proven tryscorers but just to be able to bring those two guys over, I think it’s a real statement from our club.
“There’ll be quite a few more coming through the door over the next three to four weeks. I’m excited and I know Carry is excited because obviously he’s worked with Mika before and he’d had conversations with Mika over the last couple of weeks.
“I know how much of an impact those two guys will have on our backfield but also the impact on the town, both guys will be firm favourites I’m sure with the Castleford people.”
Asked whether incoming Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr had any input in the signings, Chester added: “None at all. Those guys had been done previous to the head coach being announced.
“We got Semi done very early doors but we left it alone a little bit just because he was playing and we wanted to wait and announce it when Semi was happy for us to announce it. Mika was done five or six weeks ago. In terms of the signings Ryan has been very supportive but those deals were done probably five or six weeks ago.
“I’m just delighted that we’ve got such quality through the door, the players that we’ve brought through so far, the players that are at UK clubs, we’ll announce at the end of the season just out of respect for those clubs, I’m really excited.”
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