Castleford Tigers v St Helens: Danny Richardson's Hull KR move explained, possible replacements named

Richardson, who signed for Tigers from St Helens in 2020, will join Betfred Super League rivals Hull KR next week on a loan deal for the rest of this season. He has been named in Tigers’ initial squad for Friday’s visit of St Helens, but is out of contract in November.

“Danny wants to go out and play to secure his future for next season and beyond,” Lingard said. “An opportunity came up to go to KR. He has not been in our team recently and the way Rowan [Milnes] has played recently, he has got that half-back spot at the minute.

“That meant Danny might not play for another week or two or three or even longer. We’ve got cover with Macca [Paul McShane] and Tex Hoy able to drop in at half and two young kids in the academy have been training with the first team and it’s an opportunity for them.”

Tigers have high hopes for Jenson Windley and Jaiden Linford who Lingard said could get a chance this season. He added: “If we do get any injuries they can come in and play a game or two and it is important we start trying to develop our young players.

“They aren’t ready for Super League yet, but if we can try and blood them when required with a game here and there and next season a few games more than that, that’s the way we need to go.”

Richardson’s exit creates space for someone to come into the club, but Lingard stressed: “Just because we’ve got the budget, it doesn’t mean we are going to get a player. The market is what the market is.

“We are sort of finding that out a bit with recruitment for next year as well. There’s limited players out there and the ones who are, you might have four, five or six clubs in for them as well. We need to be sensible about bringing people in; there’s no point doing that just because they are available, they have got to add something to us.”

Tigers will aim to extend their unbeaten run to three games on Friday, against a Saints side smarting from defeat six days earlier. Lingard admitted: “It’s a challenge, but Hull KR did a bit of a job on Saints and we have to take a leaf out of their book. We have got a bit of confidence from the way we’ve played the last few weeks and we have got to use that to our advantage and come out firing. We need to get into the game and put a bit of pressure on them.”

Castleford Tigers: from Wood, I Senior, Richardson, Miller, Watts, McShane, El-Zakhem, Mellor, Westerman, Horne, Griffin, Milnes, Hodson, Robb, Martin, Hill, Rooney, L Senior, Hoy, C Hall, Eseh.

St Helens: from Welsby, Makinson, Blake, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Clark, Lees, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Mbye, Bell, Sironen, Wingfield, Delaney, Davies, Royle, Hurrell, Ritson, Stephens.

Referee: Jack Smith (Wigan). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.