Castleford aiming to minimise player changes ahead of next season
Tuesday 9 June 2015 15:33, UK
Castleford coach Daryl Powell is aiming to keep changes in personnel to a minimum next year after conceding that integrating eight new faces was a costly exercise.
Powell blooded the new arrivals in the first three weeks of the 2015 campaign after losing a host of names following the 2014 Challenge Cup final and Super League play-offs.
The Tigers battled to pull themselves out of the relegation zone after losing those first three matches and Powell admits consistency could be key for the rest of the season.
"I thought it would fit together a little bit easier," Powell said. "Obviously injuries haven't helped but it was tougher than I thought it would be.
"We had eight or nine new players which is too big a turnover. We found that quite difficult at the start of the season, in particular changing two half-backs and a hooker.
"It's taken a fair while to get where we wanted to be and we've had to narrow our game down a little. But it has worked for us to date.
"There will be a few changes for next year. We haven't finalised those yet but we're hoping not to have too many."
Castleford have posted back-to-back wins over Wakefield and Hull KR to climb up the table and will go into the top four if they can beat leaders Leeds at Headingley on Thursday.
"I think we've done a really good job to be where we are," Powell said. "I think we've been outstanding, to be honest, given what's happened to us across the year.
"We've had a lot of injuries to key players but we've battled our way through it. We've had to stabilise our game, which we've done. It's been a challenging period but I think we've given ourselves a chance to kick on now."
Castleford will be boosted by the return of hooker Scott Moore and former Leeds prop Ryan Bailey from injury while Leeds welcome back centre Joel Moon from suspension with forwards Kylie Leuluai and Jamie Jones-Buchanan also nearing full fitness again.
