‘Passionate’ Andy Last backed to send Castleford in the right direction

Castleford forward George Lawler sung the praises of the ‘brilliant’ Andy Last following the latter’s permanent appointment as head coach.

Earlier this week, Last was appointed as Castleford’s head coach on a deal until at least the end of 2025 following a spell as interim boss.

The Tigers are currently 10th in the Super League table, having won two games from the first nine rounds of the season, with both victories coming under Last.

Speaking to the media ahead of Friday’s match against Hull KR, Lawler insisted that Last is the right man to take the Tigers in to a new era.

“We all back Lasty,” Lawler said.

“He has got a real good passion for us as a team and the club and it’ll send us in the right direction.

“I think Lasty wants to bring a real togetherness, he has been big on that since day one and that has been implemented in our performances as well.

“Lasty has been brilliant. He has been very professional, he is very passionate about what he does and that feeds on to us. I think some of our performances under Lasty has shown massive parts of that.

“You can speak to Andy and he’s very technical in what he does.

“He’s very passionate. You can speak to Andy about a lot, he’s very easy to talk to.

“He’s brilliant with everything, he’s a fantastic coach and he has been at the highest level being the England assistant as well, so he’s great for us.”

George Lawler previews Hull KR clash

Castleford will look to get their third win of the campaign when they host third-placed Hull KR at the Jungle in Friday night’s televised fixture.

“They are doing very well,” Lawler said of his former club Hull KR.

“They have got some good punch right through the team and we know what we have to do and we’ll put it into practice on Friday night.

“They’ve got players who carry the ball well and they’ve got two punchy, good nines in (Matt) Parcell and (Jez) Litten. The forwards as well, George King and Mini (Elliot Minchella), can play a bit as well so they are the main points.

“I’ve got a couple (of mates there). We haven’t spoken to each other much (this week) but I’m sure it’ll pick up next week!”

Lawler believes the Tigers are showing signs of improvement on a week-to-week basis, and are confident of climbing the Super League table as the season goes on.

He added: “There has been a couple of (poor) results but there has also been some good results as well, so it is just about getting more of the good results and climbing the ladder.

“If we start playing a bit better and working to our strengths, the results will start coming.

“We just need to do the good things for longer periods of that, its as simple as that and cut out some errors.

“We know what we have to do and thats building each game and each week. I think step by step we’ll get there.”

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