Kenny Edwards on life as a Tiger, play-off goals & enjoying time under Radford
Kenny Edwards says his time at Castleford so far has been a breath of fresh air as the back-rower targets the play-offs with his new club.
The back-rower made the move to the Tigers from Huddersfield for the 2022 season.
Edwards, 32, first arrived in Super League in 2018 with Catalans, lifting the Challenge Cup later that year.
Speaking to the back-rower, you could sense his excitement with his new club in what could be a big year for the New Zealand-born player.
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“It’s a breathe of fresh air for me,” he told Love Rugby League.
“There’s new coaching staff here and a lot of new players. It’s a really good mix. We’re an old bunch! It’s been really good.
“We’ve got a lot of experience with a lot of footy in our team. A lot of boys who can play rugby. I don’t think we’ll struggle scoring points this year.”
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New era under Radford
Castleford’s new era under Radford got off to a disappointing start, falling to a 26-16 home defeat to Salford.
However, there were promising signs off the field, with the club announcing the sell-out crowd at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, with 10,500 in attendance.
Edwards said during pre-season that he has enjoyed working under his new coach, who has backed him to play an open style of rugby.
He said: “Radford is the sort of coach who is going to back me. He’s going to back me if I see something that’s on and if I take it and it doesn’t come off, we’ll defend.
“It’s a breath of fresh air. A massive difference for me and it’s something that I like; to play for those coaches.
“You know that you’ve got their confidence to take things and chance your arm. That’s the sort of player I am. He’s really backed me.
“With the new rules and it (the game) being so fast, the unstructured rugby is probably the way forward.
“There’s always structure, but at the end of the day, our coaches can say we have the structure but if we see something on, that’s the way rugby goes. You’ve got to take those opportunities.”
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Play-offs the goals for Kenny Edwards
Despite their start to the season, Castleford will be looking to improve on their 2021 finish of seventh to push for a play-off spot; something Edwards hasn’t achieved since his move to Super League.
He added: “100% (we want to make play-offs). That’s why we play in this league, isn’t it?
“I haven’t played play-offs since I’ve been here. I won a Challenge Cup with Catalans which was a bit different, but I haven’t had the chance to play in those semi-finals since I’ve been here.
“It’ll be good. We came close in my first year at Huddersfield and we just missed out.
“We’ve got the group here. We’ve got a group who can really play rugby.”
Castleford look to bounce back in round two as they travel to Warrington on Thursday night.
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