Castleford Tigers boss Craig Lingard on why pre-season games are 'massive' for the club this year

The Tigers return to action in Jake Webster’s testimonial match at Keighley Cougars on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).

A number of Cas’s 11 new signings are set to feature along with the best of the club’s young players in the first of three pre-season hit outs for Lingard’s men.

The Tigers have undergone a big transformation since last season with the average of the side being significantly reduced and a tight budget to work with.

Lingard will be looking for signs of encouragement in what is being billed as the farewell game for hugely popular former Cas star Jake Webster – before the Tigers go on to face London Broncos and Huddersfield Giants in their other warm-ups – and sees the pre-season games as important.

He said: "We've been running 13 on 13 in training, moving people in and out. We don't want the standard dropping down when people come in. That's exactly what we want to see in the pre-season friendlies.

"As coaches, we've sat down a few times to come up with our starting 17 and can't come up with an answer which shows that we've got a lot of people who are still pushing for a place.

"These pre-season friendlies will be massive."

Lingard, meanwhile intends to use a pre-season camp in North Yorkshire to deliver the message that togetherness will be a key ingredient if the team is to be successful in 2024.

He explained: "We're going up to a barn in North Yorkshire. We've got two nights and three days up there. It's not going to be a rugby-based camp but a chance to spend some time with each other and build those bonds that will be really key during the season.

"It's equally as important as the stuff you do on the field. If you haven't got each other's backs off the field, you're not going to have each other's backs on the field.

"It's about building those connections and combinations as much off the field as on it.

"Every week we've had two or three team get togethers, whether it be a coffee, a feed or something else after training. It's building a togetherness."