Castleford Tigers are in the process of making an offer to their ‘preferred candidate’ with a head coach to be appointed very soon.
Director of Rugby and current interim head coach Chris Chester spoke with the press to confirm that four candidates had been narrowed to two, both of whom interviewed on Monday and Tuesday with an offer now made to their “preferred candidate”.
Chester stopped short of revealing who it was but he did name check Ryan Carr, Jim Lenihan and Ian Watson, suggesting that it is could be one of those men who are the club’s preferred choice.
He also explained how the time difference would be a factor in slowing down any quick contract signing, further implying that it’s an overseas head coach as Chester has regularly hinted at.
Describing it as a ‘relief’, Chester added: “I hope it gets sorted over the weekend,” with Tigers fans potentially set to learn their new head coach as early as next week.
Castleford Tigers coach search concludes as offer made
Speaking on the process, Chester confirmed that he and Danny Wilson had interviewed the final candidates on Monday and Tuesday, having previously cut the interview pool to four.
He explained: “We’ve had some real positive conversations this week. We’ve trimmed it down to four interviews and we’ve got a preferred candidate. We’re just trying to negotiate a deal with the candidate.”
Unable to confirm who it was given the fact that offer had yet to be accepted, Chester did confirm that the process had been “very positive”, albeit harder than anticipated.
He said: “I would have been hoped to have sat here giving you an exclusive but with time difference it’s been difficult. We came to a decision as a board yesterday, it was important that I put the two in front of the board and they both presented well.
“What I would say is that it’s been harder than I thought. It’s been a real tough decision. There were a couple of real positive chats over the last 48 hours where we’ve got a preferred candidate. I will let that person know and chat to the agent and try and thrash out a deal.”
On the timescale for an announcement, he confirmed: “Probably early next week,” before teasing “some more positive news coming out of the club”.
He also revealed that if the preferred candidate accepts then he would expect them to arrive before pre-season.
