The off-season is anything but sleepy at Castleford Tigers. Behind the scenes, the club are quietly laying the foundations for a brighter future.
A new 4G pitch is going in, providing a top-class training facility on their doorstep while benefiting the wider community.
Meanwhile, the area behind the main stand is being transformed in an effort to enhance the fan experience.
Away from the stadium improvements, Ryan Carr has been tasked with the biggest challenge of all: transforming Castleford into a force on the field.
The Tigers have finished the last three seasons in the bottom three with little in the way of encouragement, losing 21 of their 27 games this year.
But the new head coach has walked into the OneBore Stadium with a fresh perspective – and his first impressions are positive.
“It’s an exciting time for the club,” said Carr, who cut a calm and measured figure at Monday’s unveiling.
“It’s a big year being a centenary year. There are a lot of changes happening. You can see things being done around the club, which shows the growth the club is investing in.
“A lot of people care about the club and we’ve got to make sure we pay that faith back by doing a good job on the field.”
The team Carr has inherited is markedly different to the version that stuttered through 2025 thanks to an aggressive recruitment drive led by director of rugby Chris Chester.
Captain Sam Wood and popular hooker Liam Horne head the list of departures, making way for a raft of players from home and abroad.
Jordan Lane, Jack Ashworth, Renouf Atoni, Liam Hood and Darnell McIntosh bring valuable Super League experience, while Brock Greacen, Blake Taaffe and Tom Weaver offer an element of the unknown.
Castleford know exactly what they are going to get from fellow overseas recruits Mikaele Ravalawa and Semi Valemei – the kind of back-field power they have been crying out for.
“Chezzy has done a great job,” said Carr. “We’ve been talking nearly every day, even when I was in Oz.
“A lot of work has gone into that roster build and it hasn’t even finished yet – we’ve still got a ways to go.
“I think we’re up to 12 or 13 new players so it’s going to feel new and different for the players who were here. There’s going to be an injection of different characters and different strengths to the group but ultimately it’s going to come down to everyone doing their job.
“We’ve got to make sure we start from the ground and build up.”
Those foundations will be laid during an intense pre-season, which begins in earnest on Monday.
While Carr plans to shape Castleford’s attacking philosophy over the winter months, there will be no compromise on the fundamentals of the game.
“You don’t get pre-season back,” he said. “You can’t get to round one and wish you did something different. It’s an important time for us.
“We’ll come out the other side of that with a clear identity and style of play that works for us. Until we start training, I don’t want to comment too much on that.
“Our effort levels are going to be extremely high. I want a team that competes really hard.
“There are a few non-negotiables we’ll operate with in terms of how hard our effort is every game. That’s something we’re going to value really highly.”
Carr is no stranger to Super League having served as an assistant at Leeds Rhinos in 2019 while coaching Featherstone Rovers in the Championship.
The 37-year-old has spent the intervening period honing his craft in the NRL, initially under current Rhinos boss Brad Arthur at Parramatta Eels before a three-season stint with St George Illawarra Dragons.
When Carr was offered the chance to head up the project at Castleford, it was an opportunity he could not pass up.
The Australian saw out the campaign with the Dragons after accepting the job in August and did not waste a minute of his spare time, watching every game of Castleford’s wretched season.
Rather than focus on the negatives, he observed through a positive lens.
“I looked at the strengths of the players and what we can do better as a team,” he said.
“But I don’t want to look backwards too much. What happened last season on the field was out of my control; what is in our control now is what we do next.
“I’m more worried about how we turn up for our week one, which is in the coming days, and where we go to next.”
On the face of it, Castleford must navigate a long road back to the top.
While recent success stories at Leigh Leopards, Wakefield Trinity and Hull FC have shown rapid improvement is possible from a low base in Super League, Carr is focused on building something unique at Wheldon Road.
“We’re not comparing ourselves to any other club in the comp,” he said.
“We’ve got our own identity and it’s our responsibility to make sure the identity is as strong as it can be.
“We’re going to make sure we focus on building something special here at this club.
“We can go on a journey where we get some really good memories. That can happen quickly if you want it to.”
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