The Yorkshire Post's rugby league writer James O'Brien looks ahead to Castleford Tigers' 2025 campaign in Super League, picking out reasons for optimism, areas of concern, key players and a predicted finish
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00:00There's a lot of good things going on behind the scenes at Cass. There's probably not a
00:17great deal to look forward to for the fans on the field. They've got a squad that's probably
00:21ill-equipped for Super League, certainly the pack is lightweight, but there are a lot of
00:25good things going on away from the spotlight. In the background, Martin Jepsen's getting
00:30to grips with the club, so I think they've got a bright future. It just might be a bit
00:35more short-term pain this season, but I think the future is bright.
00:43I've just touched on the pack. It's very lightweight for Super League or even the Championship,
00:49as we saw in the cup tie. They got blown away in the first half by Bradford, a part-time
00:54team, albeit a very strong side, probably the favourites for the Championship. But it
00:58just showed that Cass are really going to struggle to make metres to stop the other
01:02side making metres. If you can't do that, if you've got no go forward, you're going
01:08to struggle. The players that brought in Dejan Arsene, the likes of those guys, they're going
01:15to struggle if they don't have the field position to work with, so that's a big area of concern
01:20for Cassford.
01:25The key man is probably Dejan Arsene. He's come over from Parramatta. He's struggled
01:32to get to grips with the English game so far. It's only a very short sample size and, as
01:37I say, he's playing behind with a beaten pack, so it is tough for him. It'll take him a while
01:41to adjust to Super League, the game over here in England. But when the pitches dry out in
01:47the summer, he's probably Cassford's best bet of winning some games and getting them
01:53up the table. But, like I say, he might struggle unless Cassford bring in a few reinforcements
01:58in the pack.
02:03I have predicted Cassford's finish bottom. I didn't take any joy in doing that. Whereas
02:10previous seasons there's been, aside an obvious Wooden Spoonist, there isn't one this season.
02:16There's no London, there's no Toulouse. So it's going to be one of those bigger clubs
02:22who are going to finish bottom. I just think Cass, whereas Huddersfield, you can see them
02:27winning games. They've got a decent pack, they've got Joan Cartwright coming in. He's
02:32got a presence about him as a coach. But just for Cassford with their pack, I just can't
02:36see them winning as many games as those other sides.