Castleford Tigers disrupted by unusual loan arrangement with Leigh Leopards
Ben McNamara speaks to Sky Sports following a game in 2025 having been named the Player of the Match
Luke Robinson has admitted Castleford Tigers are not in a position to make major changes to their squad this week, while revealing Ben McNamara and Lazarus Vaalepu are not training with the club full-time.
The pair are on loan from Leigh Leopards for the rest of the season, though Castleford have already lost Keanan Brand after he was recalled despite being part of the same arrangement.
That has put further strain on Castleford’s squad, which has prompted them to recall Alfie Lindsay this week.
To make matters worse, the Tigers aren’t in a position to put additional time into McNamara, who will join the club permanently next season, and Vaalepu, as they remain with Leigh for part of the week.
“The squad’s not massive at the moment, there can’t be wholesale changes,” Robinson said ahead of Castleford’s clash with Bradford Bulls. “There could be potentially one or two players coming in, but it won’t be too dissimilar.
“It’s always been like that in whatever sport you’re involved in. Players lose form and gain form, and not only that, you pick players depending on who you’re playing against, how you want to play that week, what the field is like, for example, which will be a little bit of a test this week.
“Obviously, the dimensions are ridiculous, but that’s always been the case. We’re probably not in a position this week to actually make too many changes.”
On the Leigh duo, Robinson revealed: “It’s been a little bit difficult for Ben. When you’re playing in a spine, it’s very difficult to build combinations. They don’t always train with us as well as part of the loan agreement is that early on in the week they have to train at Leigh.
“We only get them for a limited amount of time. It makes it a little bit more difficult, especially when you’re a spine member, just to build combinations and a little bit of flow within your unit and within the team.
“It’ll be a little bit easier for Lazarus when you’re in middle. The job doesn’t change that much from team to team, run hard, tackle hard. It’ll probably be a little bit easier for him. They’ve both definitely added something to us and will both play this week.”
Robinson hopes Krystian Mapapalangi will be cleared to play after returning to training. The centre has missed the last two games but is being given time to get fit for the trip to Odsal.
“He’s trained today, he’s got a little bit of a shoulder issue, but we’ll see how he came through today and we’ll make a bit of a call on that later on. He’s gone through a bit of testing, he’s come through it alright. We’re going to give him the rest of tonight, tomorrow morning, just see where he’s at, see how he feels.”
Fingers crossed for Krystian, he was really good at the beginning of the year for us, played some really good stuff. He’s obviously a great attacking threat, someone that you’d love to have at your side. Fingers crossed he can be, but we’ll know that tomorrow.”