Lee Radford: Castleford Tigers head coach pleased with squad's chemistry

Lee Radford is excited to be back in coaching after a spell away from the game following his exit from Hull

Head coach Lee Radford is pleased with the manner in which his Castleford Tigers squad has bonded going into his first season in charge at Wheldon Road.

Radford has added eight new faces, such as Bureta Faraimo, Mahe Fonua, Jake Mamo and the returning Joe Westerman.

He has also inherited talent such as former Man of Steel Paul McShane, Jake Trueman and ex-Hull forward Liam Watts.

"They're a real solid hard-working group of people and there's no egos there," Radford told BBC Sport.

"The blokes we've brought in, we've got some characters there, and I was really intrigued to see how that chemistry was going to pan out but they've all bought in and are on the same page.

"The common denominator among them all is they want to win something. And when that's the driver for you it can be a powerful thing."

Mamo and Watts in particular are two players with big personalities, not that Radford is at all fazed.

"I coached at East Hull for five years, and we probably had the craziest bunch of rugby league players ever to don a shirt," he added.

"So anyone who crosses my path now compared to some of those blokes - some were on day release and playing on a weekend - is a piece of cake."

The former Hull FC boss was appointed after long-serving Tigers head coach Daryl Powell ended his eight-and-a-half-year association by joining Warrington Wolves for 2022.

Radford's time at the Airlie Birds brought back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs and he was also on the cusp of winning the League Leaders' Shield.

Lee Radford (left) won the Challenge Cup with Hull KR in 2016 and 2017

However, the success came at a price - that being in the goldfish bowl of coaching a club in such a rugby league-mad city like Hull - and Radford is happy to have some breathing space these days.

"I don't live in Castleford, I still live in East Hull so I'm not in and among it every day, which I think, having lived that life for a long time, can be a good thing," Radford said.

"Living in East Hull is red and white territory, so whenever 'we' at Hull lost, it wasn't just my own supporters letting me know about it but the 'red and whites' did too.

"It's a more relaxed club here, the media pressure has been far less which is really noticeable. That will hopefully change when we win some games, and we start getting talked about a little bit more.

"At the minute it's very low-key and I've been really enjoying that. To put that into perspective, I've gone from two interviews a day to one every fortnight. That's nothing against the media, that's just how it is.

"Like I say, hopefully that will change when we start winning a few games."