New Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr has warned his new squad that they will face a tough pre-season to try and discover what their identity will be in 2026 and beyond.
The Tigers’ new-look team arrive for initial testing this week, before pre-season training officially begins on Monday. Carr has insisted the run-up to Super League next year will be tough and uncompromising on his players, before spelling out his vision for what the Castleford of 2026 will look like.
He said: “I want a team that competes really hard. There’s a few non-negotiable we’ll operate with in terms of how hard our effort is every game.
“That’s something we’re going to value really highly. The style of play.. I’ve never been a coach that’s gone in with a fixed mindset. We need to figure out our team, who we are and how we’re going to play and that’s what a pre-season is for.
“But you don’t get pre-season back. You can’t get to round one and wish you did something different. A lot of planning has already happened and now I’m here on the ground, we’ll make sure we get our programme on point. It’s an important time for us and the work we’re doing now will set us in good stead.
“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 how we’ll play. But our effort levels are going to be extremely high and we’ll demand that of ourselves.”
Carr remained coy when asked about what he felt was achievable in the short and long-term – instead again drawing his attention back to his squad executing the bare essentials.
He said: “There’s always long-term and short-term goals in anything anyone does. I’m not coming in with a fixed mindset, I’m open and wanting to set clear standards here early on.
“I believe any team can win any game they turn up to. We’ve got to want to win everything we do in pre-season. If we have that attitude then I feel that the results will take care of themselves. We can’t control where we’ll finish on the ladder but we can control how hard we’ll work.”
And Carr admitted that he will place a heavy focus on making the club’s Wheldon Road home as demanding and uncompromising as possible for opposition teams – as he looks to put a group together that accurately reflects the values of the town of Castleford.
“A huge advantage of the club is its community,” he said.
“There’s passionate fans who care about the club deeply and we want to create that hostile environment here because that’s what home grounds are for.
“One thing I know from first-hand experience is on its day, this rivals any other team in the competition for a home ground. It’s our job to make the community feel excited about us and give them the belief that they can come and support us. We need that support, we rely on our community, and it’s our job to repay them with good performances.”