Castleford Tigers 'close' to completing deal for overseas forward with NRL experience
Castleford Tigers are close to signing a forward with NRL experience to boost their pack over the second half of the season.
Tigers have a space on their overseas quota after hooker Judah Rimbu was released from his contract earlier this week. Rimbu, who made only 10 first team appearances, has subsequently returned to his former club Papua New Guinea Hunters in Australia's Queensland Cup.
Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Wednesday) ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Hull KR, McGuire confirmed: “We are looking to bring somebody in on quota to replace Judah. The paperwork is just taking a little bit of time to get done, but I am hoping somebody will be in by the end of the week [or] the early part of next week. I think it is pretty much nearly done, but I don’t want to jinx it by giving it away.”
McGuire wouldn’t name the target, but did say it is not South Sydney Rabbitohs’ former St George-Illawarra man Jacob Host. He added: “He [the target] is a middle-forward, back-row forward who has played a decent amount of NRL and has got some experience. That’s as much as I can give you.”
The Castleford boss declined to comment on a report by Love Rugby League linking Hull FC forward Jack Ashworth with a move to Tigers next year. McGuire stressed: “He is a player at another club. He is a player I admire, I think he has still got his best years ahead of him, but at the minute he is a Hull player so I can’t really comment too much on that.”