Castleford Tigers hope to unveil their new head coach in advance of next weekend’s home game with Leeds Rhinos, with the final interviews to take place over the coming days.
The Tigers have narrowed an initial five-man shortlist down to four, with each of those candidates interviewed this weekend. They then hope to bring that list down to two before a final decision.
Director of rugby Chris Chester, speaking after their heavy defeat at Hull KR on Saturday afternoon, insisted they will be ‘thorough’ with the process – but that a decision is looming.
He said: “We’re not far away. We’ve got another interview tomorrow (Sunday), and one on Monday and there’s another on Tuesday. We’re not far away now.
“It’s important we get this decision right and I provide this new coach with the tools and I think I’ve put a pretty good squad together for 2026.
“We don’t want to finish with a whimper now though, because there’s a lot of players here who are contracted and who will be moving on.
“We’ve got seven weeks to dig in and spend some time together as a group.”
When pushed on a timeline for a public announcement, Chester said: “I’d like an announcement before the next game. That sends a positive message. So hopefully next week; we’re going to be very thorough and I’m looking forward to getting that announced.”
Chester admitted he was pleased with the spirit his side showed – but reserved special praise for youngster Jenson Windley, thrown in at fullback after Fletcher Rooney picked up an injury in the final play of their last session before the game.
“We got plenty of spirit,” he said. “We were happy with 16-6 at half-time given the lack of field position and kicking from inside our 20 sometimes. But we found metres very hard to come by. It was a spirited performance.
“Considering we lost Fletcher Rooney yesterday in the very last play of team run, we didn’t know what the team was going to be after the session, young Jenson came in and did a fantastic job at full-back.”
However, when asked if he had learned anything new about this playing group after the defeat, Chester said: “Not really. When the going gets tough sometimes, we’ve a few individuals that don’t like the tough stuff and that’s what we’ve got to change, that mentality.
“I’m reluctant to spend up while we get the new coach on board.”
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