Castleford Tigers man makes Bradford Bulls loan move as head-coach Andy Last outlines areas for improvement

Fijian international Jason Qareqare has scored eight tries in 14 Betfred Super League appearances since making his debut two years ago.

The initial fortnight’s loan will be extended on a week-by-week basis. Tigers have a recall option on the 19-year-old who has played for them three times this season, as well as twice on dual-registration with Midlands Hurricanes.

The deal was announced on Thursday, the day after Tigers confirmed interim-boss Andy Last as their new head-coach on a contract until the end of 2025.

Last said Qareqare will “certainly be one for us for the future”, but is behind Greg Eden and Bureta Faraimo on current form and needs to be playing regular rugby while he awaits his chance.

“Jason is a player with huge potential and we want to create a pathway for him, but he needs to work on some aspects of his game.” he said.

“Getting some consistent rugby at Bradford in the Championship is going to stretch him a bit more than the reserves does.

“He needs to improve out of yardage, carry the ball a bit more and just influence games more. When he gets his hands on the ball he's such a dangerous player in terms of his speed and athleticism. We want to see him stretch himself.”

Meanwhile, Last has outlined the areas he feels Tigers need to improve as they aim to climb out of relegation danger.

Tigers are third from bottom going into Friday’s home game against Hull KR and Last said: “I am excited by the opportunity.

“The big thing for us this week is to just focus on Hull KR. I think we have been competitive the last few weeks and there’s some positives to build on.

“Our good ball needs to sharpen up and we need to ask more questions of the opposition and a big one for us is increasing our support play and taking some risks sometimes, having the confidence to offload and find the odd pass, because defensively we are looking a bit more solid.”