Castleford Tigers loan decision made for Wigan Warriors game as Ryan Carr 'hopeful' over full-back search
Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr has revealed his stance on loan deals after two players were recalled by their parent club.
Hooker Tom Forber joined Tigers in March and played in their past two games, a win against Bradford Bulls and loss to Wakefield Trinity, but was recalled by Wigan Warriors last week. Josh Thewlis made his Tigers debut on a wing against Trinity, but was called back by Warrington Warriors ahead of their visit to Catalans Dragons on Saturday.
Both players were set to spend at least a month with Castleford, but each deal included a recall clause. Though Carr - whose side visit Wigan on Sunday - stressed he was “super-appreciate of their efforts and what they did”, he admitted that scenario is far from ideal.
He said: “When you’ve got two players who are in your starting team and get recalled back to their team straight after the game and aren’t in review the next day, it’s pretty hard to create accountability in those situations. But we’re not in that any more, we’ve got no loan players at the moment. Those guys did a great job for us, but at the end of the day they are another club’s player.”
Carr added: “I have absolute respect for the guys who came in and played for us, they tried their absolute best which is all I could ask of them. But at the end of the day, you want a playing squad that’s yours and you can rely on week in and week out.
“The point of a pre-season is to build culture and a team mentality and to build a real clarity around your game. When you are asking guys to come in the day before the game, it is extremely hard to do.
“It is not what you need. That’s not what I want. I am hopeful we can come out the other side of it and get some bodies back and get some players in the door that are our players, that I can really build and work with. We are still actively recruiting and trying to bring players in that are our players.”
With Blake Taaffe ruled out for the entire season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in round one and his deputy Fletcher Rooney (quad muscle) also on the long-term casualty list, full-back is a priority. Carr said there have “been a lot of phone calls” and he remains “hopeful” of signing someone to fill the number one role.