Huge boost for Castleford Tigers as Greg Eden signs new deal

Prolific try scorer Greg Eden is “delighted” to be staying at Castleford Tigers after signing a new contract with his hometown club.
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Eden, 31, was in the final months of his previous arrangement, but has re-signed for next season and the deal includes an option to remain at the club in 2024.

The Castleford academy product made his first team debut in 2011 and rejoined Tigers in 2017 after spells with Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR and NRL outfit Brisbane Broncos.

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He has a strike rate of more than one try per game - with 101 in 98 appearances for Tigers - and confirmed there were offers to move on, but insisted Castleford was always his first choice.

Greg Eden scores in Tigers' Challenge Cup win at Leeds Rhinos this season. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comGreg Eden scores in Tigers' Challenge Cup win at Leeds Rhinos this season. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Greg Eden scores in Tigers' Challenge Cup win at Leeds Rhinos this season. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

The new contract was signed several weeks ago, but announced yesterday.

The winger - who can also play at full-back, centre or in the halves - said: “It is a club I’ve loved ever since I was growing up.

“I went away from here when I was a bit younger, but this deal will take me to eight years here if the option gets taken and I am delighted to be staying.

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“There were a couple of options, but the better one for me was to stay here.

“I am local, I live here, I went to school at Cas High and Cas has a big piece of my mind.

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“That was the main thing and with the boys here and the coaching staff this year, I have enjoyed being a part of it so I am happy to stay.”

With Gareth O’Brien on the casualtry list and Jake Trueman and Ryan Hampshire both ruled out for the rest of this season with anterior cruciate ligament damage, Eden switched to stand-off for last Saturday’s Magic Weekend defeat by Leeds Rhinos.

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He could continue in that role at home to Warrington Wolves tomorrow and revealed: “I only had one training session there.

“I played in a reserves match a few weeks back and I had half a game at six then.

“That was a bit of a shock to me, but it went all right.

“We’ve obviously had a couple of injuries, so I just got thrown in there.”

He added: “I was excited, to be fair.

“I grew up as a stand-off and I’ve never really had a chance to play there in the first team.

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“I am happy I’ve got another shot and I can build on it and get used to it a bit.”

Eden stressed: “When I get my hands on the ball and run plays, it feels quite natural.

“I am quite good at that part of the game, but obviously my strength is running so I am more of a running threat.

“It is gradually coming back, I have had a couple of sessions this week and I feel a bit more comfortable than I did last week.

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“The main area I struggled with [last week] was organising, stepping up and being the controller.

“After a couple of sessions, I’ve found my feet in that area so I can step up a little bit and control it myself.”

Tigers coach Lee Radford is “really pleased” to have Eden on the books for at least one more season.

“He was really keen to stay and I think his try scoring ratio for a winger is pretty phenomenal,” Radford said.

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“I have really enjoyed working with him since he came in and he has some

mileage left in the tank as well.

“He obviously played out of position last weekend, but when he starts on the left-wing he scores in more games than he doesn’t.”