The round one visit of Wigan Warriors is Ryan Carr’s Betfred Super League debut as coach, Tigers will field a much-changed team from last year and it will be fans’ first opportunity to experience OneBore Stadium after a pre-season facelift. Those changes have created a buzz around the town and club after some disappointing seasons and Carr is anxious to ensure watching Tigers is a fun experience this year – at least for their own supporters.
“There’s been a huge investment put into the club off the field and we are super-appreciative of that,” the former Featherstone Rovers boss and Leeds Rhinos assistant-coach said. “The stadium will feel new and fresh, which it needs to do because we are coming into a new era at the club.
“It is going to be a good place to be on game day, but we need to generate that atmosphere this place has become renowned for. We probably haven’t seen the best of it over the past 12 months so to bring that back among the community would be a huge win for us as a footy club.”
Cas’ lineup against Wigan will be almost unrecognisable from the one beaten at St Helens in the final game of last year, but Carr insisted his team are “as ready as we’ll ever be”. He said: “Like round one every year, everyone’s had a big pre-season and everyone’s prepared as best they can, but until you get out there and experience it for the first time you never really know how it’s going to go. I am really happy with the boys and how they’ve applied themselves in pre-season and I am looking forward to seeing them get out there on their home pitch.”
Tigers had one first team warm-up game – a 40-10 defeat at St Helens – and beat Championship side Doncaster 14-0 in the Challenge Cup last week. Carr reflected: “I feel like every half of footy we’ve played we’ve got better, which is a positive sign for us as a group.
“We know we are going to continue to build and everything we do is going to be a building process. We are on a journey and with so many new players coming in, a new coach, new systems, new everything, it is a brand new start for us, which is exciting. But it also takes patience and time to learn and grow and figure out what suits us and how we’re going to be the best version of ourselves each different week.”
Tigers could not have been handed a much tougher start and Carr reckons that’s ideal. “Wigan have been the benchmark for the past 10 years so we know we are going to get a really strong opposition, which is good for us,” he stressed. “It’s good to see where we’re at, as a group and a club. We are excited about it.
“We play to win every game we play, we never go out there to be okay. It’s not good enough not winning, you want to win everything you do. Winning builds that belief and culture we are trying to get to. We want to make sure we are the best version of ourselves every single week and whatever the scoreboard looks like, we can be proud when we walk off that field.”
New signing Semi Valemei will be unavailable for “a couple more weeks” with hamstring damage and Zac Cini is close to a comeback from his soft tissue injury, but won’t be risked on Sunday. Louis Senior suffered an ankle injury against Saints and Cain Robb is recovering from pre-season surgery on a similar issue. Jack Ashworth is serving a suspension picked up last year when he was a Hull FC player.
Castleford Tigers: from Taaffe, McIntosh, Ravalawa, Asi, Weaver, Atoni, Hood, Lawler, Lane, Mellor, Stimson, Greacen, Westerman, Atkin, Rooney, Singleton, Qareqare, Mapapalangi, Windley, Hall, Beckett.
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