{"id":70720,"date":"2025-08-16T07:27:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T07:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/70720\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T07:27:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T07:27:12","slug":"chris-chester-discusses-potential-signing-of-nrl-duo-and-makes-bold-castleford-tigers-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/70720\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Chester discusses potential signing of NRL duo and makes bold Castleford Tigers claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Castleford\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Castleford Tigers director of rugby Chris Chester has made a strong claim that his side will be competing for the play-offs in 2026 with the recruitment he is bringing in for next season. He also discussed the emerging reports this week that an NRL duo could link up with the squad.<\/p>\n

Chester took questions from the media in his weekly press conference, ahead of his side\u2019s home derby against Leeds Rhinos on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Tigers have been heavily talked about on the recruitment front this week, with both sides of the world linking players to join them next year.<\/p>\n

One of the players linked to the club<\/a> is St George Illawarra Dragons winger, Mikaele Ravalawa, who is currently out on loan at South Sydney Rabbitohs.<\/p>\n

The Fijian international has only played three NRL games this season, after suffering a hamstring injury in April. Head coach Shane Flanagan is looking to offload some of his current squad to create cap space, and whilst Ravalawa is under contract for 2026, he is set to be one of the players the Dragons move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked about the potential signing, Chester noted he\u2019d seen the reports of the Fijian, but avoided any mention of a deal.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think the last time I looked, I think Ravalawa was on about half a million dollars a year but we\u2019ve been linked to a lot of players, and I suppose that\u2019s good. It\u2019s good publicity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chester refused to confirm or deny any particular signings, but made a statement claim that if his side weren\u2019t at the very least competing for playoffs next year, he would be concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident the squad that we\u2019ve put together for 2026 is going to be competing next year and if we\u2019re not in and around that six with the squad we\u2019ve put together, then I\u2019d be very, very disappointed, and it\u2019d be my job that\u2019d be at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that I\u2019ve put a squad together that\u2019s more than capable next year of being in and around that top six. We\u2019ve brought some good, young, hungry English guys and some real top-quality Aussie talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited, and I know the preferred candidate that we\u2019ve got, he\u2019s excited as well about working with the squad that we\u2019ve put together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castleford Tigers also in offer for NRL fullback<\/p>\n

Canterbury Bulldogs outside back Blake Taaffe is a player reported to be part of Chester\u2019s squad in 2026.<\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0are reporting that Taaffe has signed a multi-year deal with the club, and will strengthen the current back options at the club.<\/p>\n

Off contract at the end of the season, the 26-year-old could join Newcastle Knights prop Brock Greacen<\/a>, who is already confirmed to be at the OneBore Stadium next year.<\/p>\n

Taaffe has only made 13 NRL appearances, but could be another talent that adapts to Super League better than the NRL and becomes a star of the competition.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Castleford Tigers director of rugby Chris Chester has made a strong claim that his side will be competing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-70720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}