Castleford Tigers new boy Jack Broadbent out to claim centre spot

The 22-year-old has joined the Tigers after scoring nine tries in 22 games and spending the second half of last season on loan with Castleford’s neighbours, Featherstone Rovers.

He faces some stiff competition to nail down a regular starting spot in his preferred centre position, but is up for the fight and is pleased it is now official that he is a Tigers man after much speculation on the move throughout 2022.

He said: "I don't know how long it's been sorted but I've known for a while.

"I've had people asking me and have had to play it down. It was probably the biggest worst-kept secret in rugby league.

"I'm really excited to have a big season and try to kick on to become a regular Super League player.

"Centre is my position and I'll try to nail that down. But I've got some utility value and wherever Radders wants me to play, I'm happy to put my hand up to play there for the team.

“It probably didn’t go the way I wanted it to at Leeds last year and I ended up on loan with Featherstone. I feel like I had a strong end to the season under Brian McDermott and I felt like I learned a lot during that time.“This is my first permanent move and I’m looking to make that step up and become a week-in, week-out Super League player.”

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With several familiar faces such as Alex Sutcliffe, Alex Mellor, Callum McLelland and Muizz Mustapha already at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, the transition has been easy for Broadbent coming into the Cas camp.

He added: “The lads have made me feel really welcome and so have the coaches. I’m aching a bit after that first week of getting back into training, but I’ve really enjoyed it. The training has been good and the standards are really high.

“I feel like I’ve fitted in really well and you can definitely feel that it’s a close-knit team and hopefully we can do that on the field and take that into the season and into our rugby.“I’m really good friends with a couple of the boys and they’ve been telling me about the club before I came over and they’ve been giving me a bit of an insight. I’m happy to be back with them.”