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New Castleford Tigers boss Paul Rowley has spoken on some of the biggest challenges he faces as the new man at the helm, whilst also offering some insight into his playing philosophies for the club.
The 51-year-old has inked a new three-year deal to become the man to succeed Ryan Carr. The Tigers’ head coach search took well over 50 days, but in Rowley, they have a man capable of taking a Castleford side down in the dumps to a play-off-contending outfit.
Having already spoken on one big challenge – the forward pack – the boss has outlined some more general areas where he would like to improve the West Yorkshire outfit.
With Rowley being the club’s seventh head coach since Daryl Powell’s exit at the end of 2021, stability and consistency are the main two factors that the former St Helens and Salford boss hopes to bring.
Explaining the task ahead, the new boss revealed in his first interview as head coach: “Obviously it was a tough season last year. The Super League is getting tougher year on year.
“Everybody’s recruited well, including Castleford, and so probably delivering consistency because we’ve seen good days last year from a Cas perspective.
“There’s been some good days, but then the gap between its best and its worst is significant, so closing that gap, that’s the challenge.”
Rowley will look to bring his renowned attacking style of play to the club, but admits that Castleford’s attack last year wasn’t all that bad. Only a few tweaks are needed in the head coach’s eyes.
“I liked a lot about how Cas attacked last year,” he explained. “I’m going to get in and learn a little bit and maybe adopt some of that stuff and add some more stuff.
…I’m going to come in and not be like a bull in a china shop. I’ll just have a look at what’s going on first and see what our players have got, because I believe in empowerment. We’ve got some fantastic players coming on board, so I’m looking forward to working with everyone.
With ball-in-hand addressed, Rowley also spoke about the other side of the game, with the Tigers’ defensive intensity and effort way off for large parts of 2026.
He added: “I think defence is about hard work, so that’s a significant area of improvement that I feel will be the most important thing.
“We’ve got to have a work ethic and ability through being fit… I’ll be relying heavily on the staff and everybody else to make sure that our team is fit, and the work ethic is right, and the leadership of the club in terms of players is right.”
In terms of leadership, the former Saints man hopes that some new faces coming into the camp will help in that area, whilst he also implored the side to “ have a bit of pride in itself,” because that is where consistency will rise from.
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Explaining what Rowley hopes to achieve during his tenure at the helm, he explained: “I think [you should] always try and beat what you did last year, and I think with anything… achieve some consistency.
“Consistency can look in terms of performances, results, but your environment- your physical, your emotional environment- be consistent as a group of people, and that will eventually reflect on the field.
“It’s a good challenge, an exciting challenge, a tough challenge, and it’s a tough competition that we’re playing in. It’s not meant to be easy. We’ve just got to be willing to work hard as a group, but if we’re tight, if we have trust and we actually enjoy the journey, then we’ve got half a chance.”
Speaking to the Castleford faithful after what has been a turbulent few years, he said: “The message to Castleford supporters is probably just keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last 100 years.
“There’s a town of 50,000, and the ratio of people that come down to the ground and enjoy the ground… Just keep supporting your club the way that you do, and we’ll ride the highs together and the lows together and be as connected as we possibly can. I’m looking forward to seeing them all down there.”
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