Castleford Tigers have continued to unveil their squad numbers throughout December but the most recent one has come as a bit of a shock.
The Tigers have been revealing their squad numbers progressively throughout December in an advent calendar style reveal with the early days sharing one or two shirt numbers in the high 20s, whereas these past few days have got deep into the first 13 squad numbers.
Plenty of new signings have had their numbers revealed with Liam Hood handed the number nine, Tom Weaver the number seven, and Mikaele Ravalawa the number five, with many fans predicting how the final four would look.
At that point, the remaining squad members were NRL signings Semi Valemei and Blake Taafe, Super League signing Darnell McIntosh and last year’s recruit Zac Cini, with most assuming that Taafe would take one, McIntosh two, with Cini and Valemei taking a centre spot a piece.
However, that’s not the case with Super League recruit Darnell McIntosh taking the number four shirt, indicating a possible position change.
Castleford Tigers signing set for position switch in 2026
McIntosh, who has signed from Leigh Leopards, has spent much of his career on the wing or even at full-back, with centre a position that the 28-year-old has only started in ten times over his 181-game career.
Two of those instances did come in 2025 with five of them coming in 2024, however, he has still primarily played on the wing in recent years with 126 of his career games coming in that role.
Him being handed the number four shirt would suggest that NRL recruit Semi Valemei will take the number two shirt and operate on the wing.
Valemei has primarily played on the wing in his NRL career so far, playing 22 games in that position, however, he has scored 10 tries in just 13 appearances at centre and plays that role for Fiji.
One positive for Ryan Carr is that much of his backline are versatile and there is also depth with the likes of Louis Senior, Jason Qareqare, as well as a number of youngsters all able to cover those positions.
It’s also worth noting that shirt numbers are merely an indication of a position and not a lock but it’s certainly been an interesting choice to hand McIntosh the number four shirt.
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Tigers Unwrapped: Darnell McIntosh → #4 for 2026 pic.twitter.com/9sh8d7t4h0
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) December 22, 2025
