Castleford Tigers director of rugby offers 2027 recruitment update with signings teased

Castleford Tigers director of rugby Chris Chester has revealed the club are being ‘proactive’ for next year and have already secured several signings for 2027.

The Tigers’ new-look squad take to the field in competitive action for the first time today (Saturday) under Ryan Carr, following an off-season that has seen well over a dozen new faces come through the door.

Headline recruits include NRL veterans Semi Valemei and Mikaele Ravalawa – and Chester insists they are already thinking ahead of 2027.

They have completed a deal to sign Leigh Leopards forward Robbie Mulhern, and more new faces have seemingly already agreed to sign for the Tigers according to Chester, who has promised Castleford will ‘not sit back’ in their pursuit to become a Super League contender.

He said: “There’s some cap space to jiggle around should we need to during the year. But we’re forever thankful to Martin and the continued support he gives myself, Martin and the rest of the playing group.

“Without that support, we wouldn’t be in the position that we’re in now. We’re happy with the squad we’ve sassmedbled but we’re not going to sit back. We’re proactive already for 2027 and those players will get announced towards the back end of the season. There’s a lot of good individuals we’ve managed to secure for 2027 and there’s a lot of good players we’re looking at.”

Chester hinted that it may take time for the new-look Castleford squad to gel, but stressed to Tigers supporters they are raring to go: not just against Doncaster in the Challenge Cup, but against Wigan in the opening Super League game of 2026 next week.

He said: “It’s going to take a bit of time for Ryan to mould this team. But there will be no excuses in Round One; we fully expect to put in a real big performance against Doncaster as we’re going full tilt with the squad Ryan has picked, and that puts us in a good place for the first Super League game here.”