Castleford Tigers boss reveals full-back plan after Blake Taaffe injury as Ashton Golding signing explained
Recruit Ashton Golding was signed by Castleford Tigers before full-back Blake Taaffe’s season-ending knee injury, coach Ryan Carr has confirmed.
Golding has been named in Tigers’ initial 21-man squad for Saturday’s Betfred Super League round two fixture at Toulouse Olympique, but Carr said rookie Fletcher Rooney will get first shot at the number one role. Taaffe won’t play again this year after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (acl) during last week’s home loss to Wigan Warriors.
Golding’s signing, on a deal until the end of this season, was announced on Wednesday, but Carr revealed it wasn’t a response to Taaffe’s injury. Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Thursday) Carr said “I am shattered for Blake, he is such a good kid and good team person.
“With that injury comes an opportunity for Fletcher Rooney to come into the team and we have got a lot of faith and confidence in him. He has been learning off Blake all pre-season and hopefully we can take his game to a new level now.
“Fletch will get first chance at it. He has trained all pre-season in that position and has been spending a lot of time with Blake on and off the field and picking his brain and trying to up his positional play. He has done it before at the highest level and it’s an exciting opportunity for him.”
Golding, who began his career with Leeds Rhinos, had been without a club since leaving Huddersfield Giants last November. He is best-known as a full-back, but can play multiple positions. “He is a great addition to both our playing squad and our culture,” Carr, who coached Golding at Featherstone Rovers in 2019, said. “He brings great maturity and experience to the group.
“I had a relationship with him prior and we had a coffee and a catch up and I explained a little bit about where we are heading as a club and what we are trying to build here and where he fits into that. He was really excited by that meeting and it happened pretty quickly from there.
“We bought the person, not the player. Last year at Huddersfield he played nine, lock, centre, wing - he can do it all really. The versatility is a massive drawcard for us. The deal had been done prior [to Taaffe’s injury]. We haven’t got a large squad this year and we understand, footy being a contact sport, things happen and injuries are unavoidable at times. We need to have depth.”
Forward George Hirst, on loan from Wigan Warriors, is also in contention for a debut this weekend. Semi Valemei, Zac Cini, Louis Senior and Cain Robb remain on the casualty list and Jack Ashworth is still suspended, but Brock Greacen comes into contention after injury.
Castleford Tigers 21-man squad: Darnell McIntosh, Mikaele Ravalawa, Daejarn Asi, Tom Weaver, Renouf Atoni, Liam Hood, George Lawler, Jordan Lane, Alex Mellor, Joe Stimson,
Brock Greacen, Joe Westerman, Chris Atkin, Fletcher Rooney, Brad Singleton, Jason Qareqare, Krystian Mapapalangi, Sam Hall, Jimmy Beckett, Ashton Golding, George Hirst.