George Griffin ‘over the moon’ after Castleford Tigers trigger contract extension

Griffin, 28, is in his second campaign at Wheldon Road after joining from Salford Red Devils and is set to make his 150th Super League appearance against Leeds Rhinos tomorrow night.

“I’m over the moon,” he said.

“I am really happy here so to get my extra year is something I was looking forward to.

“The way the club is run, I get along really well with the boys here, it’s pretty local to all my family and I think I just fit into the mould of the club quite well and the way we play.

“I’ve never been the glamour player, but I work hard, and I think we have a lot of that here.

“That’s why we do pretty well with [Nathan] Massey and Macca [Paul McShane] in the middle. We’re only going to build on that next year and, hopefully, play a lot with them and do something special.

“I think we complement each other well. I think we all work hard for each other and that’s the main thing; if you can trust who is inside or outside of you then you go a long way as a team.”

Oli Holmes and Pete Mata’utia - late withdrawals before Saturday’s loss at Warrington Wolves - are named in tomorrow’s 21-man squad.

Cheyse Blair and Jacques O’Neill are also back from injuries and Liam Wtts (ban) returns but Niall Evalds remains sidelined and Adam Milner drops out with Lewis Bienek.

Meanwhile, Griffin - who has also filled in at second-row - has praised coach Daryl Powell’s impact on him.

“Powelly’s been great with me,” he added.

“He’s brought on my game a lot and to send him off on a high note would be great.”

Lee Radford, who coached George’s brother Josh at Hull FC, replaces Powell at Wheldon Road for 2022.

Griffin said: “I spoke to Josh who gets along really well with him [Radford] and he said he is a class act.

“I’ve only spoken to him briefly before, but he seems good.

“He’s obviously a good coach with his record, with a couple of Challenge Cups under his belt, and I’m looking forward to working with him.”