Castleford Tigers tonight (Wednesday) released a statement confirming coach Ryan Carr will not be at Friday’s home game against Hull KR.

The development came more than 24 hours after the Love Rugby League website reported Carr had been stood down by the club pending an investigation, though it added there was no suggestion of wrongdoing at this stage. However, the club say Carr will be absent from this week’s fixture for “personal reasons”.

Director of rugby Chris Chester, assistant-coach Scott Murrell and Rob Nickolay, Tigers’ general manager football and club operations, will take charge of the team against the reigning Betfred Super League champions.

Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr seen following his side's loss to Warrington Wolves last Saturday. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

They will be supported by club legend and Man of Steel Adrian Vowles who is in this country on holiday. It is as yet unclear if or when Carr will return to the helm. The Australian took charge in pre-season on a three-year deal having previously been coach of Featherstone Rovers and assistant boss at Leeds Rhinos in 2019.

Tigers statement in full said: “Castleford Tigers RLFC can confirm that head coach Ryan Carr will not be in attendance at the Hull KR game this coming Friday. We can confirm that this is due to personal reasons, contrary to the reports on social media.

“In the interim, Chris Chester, Rob Nickolay and Scott Murrell will lead our on- and off- field operations. This leadership group will be heavily supported by Adrian Vowles and we thank Adrian for offering his support at short notice. We will not be making any other further comment at this stage and we urge our fans to once again get behind our team this coming Friday.”