Castleford and Newcastle link up

Castleford Tigers and Newcastle Thunder have linked up on dual-registration terms for the 2018 campaign.

League 1 side Thunder will join Championship outfit Halifax as a club where players from the Tigers can gain match fitness and game time by playing for the respective lower league teams.

Thunder head coach Jason Payne and Tigers boss Daryl Powell have been talking about becoming dual-registration partners for a number of months now and it has finally been confirmed.

Castleford used Newcastle’s Kingston Park stadium as a venue for a training camp midway through the 2017 season.

And Payne is delighted to see the clubs work together.

He said: “I’m really delighted Cas and Thunder have become dual-registration partners and I’m looking forward to building the relationship over this year and hopefully, in the longer term too.

“We spoke with Steve Gill (CEO) and Daryl Powell about working together which led to their training camp which allowed us to show off what we have to offer for their players.

“It’s an exciting opportunity. It gives us options to strengthen our squad during the season if we need to and also, it allows us to welcome in the attitudes, structures, and ethos from a Super League side and grow ourselves through that.”

And Powell thinks his youngsters can gain a lot from the partnership with Thunder.

He said: “I’m delighted that we have developed this relationship with Newcastle. We spent time at their facility last season and it is outstanding.

“Their coaching team are quality and focused on developing players which will be great for our young players, playing for them. League 1 is a tough competition which will give our players a great platform to perform in and obviously we believe our players will benefit Newcastle’s drive for excellence in the 2018 season.”