New challenge for Niall

This article is taken from the January 2021 edition of Castleford Tigers' monthly club magazine ROAR, which you can read for free by heading to castlefordtigers.com/roar

There is no doubt that the star signing for Castleford Tigers in 2021 is the skilful and fleetfooted Niall Evalds, a player who has scored 105 tries in 152 appearances for Salford Red Devils and is in fact the Greater Manchester club’s all-time record try-scorer.

The 27-year-old came through the Red Devils academy and has been part of their First Team squad since 2013, his only other professional rugby appearances have been for the England Knights. Therein lies one of the main reasons Evalds joined the Tigers, he wanted a brand-new challenge in his career and he wanted it with Castleford.

Just before Christmas, the Fords’ First Team gathered at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle for a tough, three-day camp full of tasks and hard work, including on one day a 12-hour ‘Pit Shift’. ROAR caught up with Niall on his very first day with the club, to get his early thoughts on now being a Tiger.

“It’s good to be here! Good to get the first session out of the way and start to get to know all the boys and things like that, it’s been a good first day but it is pre-season so the weather’s not been too great as expected, but it’s been good to see everyone.

“I’ve come here for a fresh challenge and that is what it’s going to be, I’m very excited to work with Powelly (Daryl Powell) and all the players here. It’s nice, it’s good to come in and the hard work starts now doesn’t it?”

That is probably selling it short. Pre-season as ever will be a gruelling schedule of training before the Super League season kicks off on March 11th, but the Tigers’ Christmas Camp was all about getting to know one another again, meeting the new lads and setting the standards for what was to come in January.

“Pre-season is just hard work isn’t it, but it’s now all new for me coming into a different environment and the hard work never changes but getting used to different players and a different team than what I’m used to is going to be fun. I’m looking forward to showing everyone what I can do and play everyone.”

For the first time in living memory too, rugby league players had the Christmas period off with no traditional Boxing Day match, which made the Cas Christmas Camp even more important. With the on-going Covid-19 pandemic players have not travelled away on holiday as is quite usual in the off-season, but for Niall being at home during the off-season was a good thing.

“My missus is pregnant, so I’ve been looking after her to be honest, she is doing it tough at the minute, so she has had me working around the house. Other than that, not too much, just keeping myself ticking over fitness wise to be ready to come in.”

Every player and coach at Castleford Tigers have their sets on silverware and winning finals, and in the last two seasons, Evalds has featured in both a Challenge Cup Final and a Super League Grand Final. His task now is to do it again with Cas, but this time be on the winning side.

“That is why I’ve come here like I’ve said it is a fresh challenge and I think this team is good enough to get to finals and really do something special. It’s why I joined Cas, the expectations of the club, of Daryl Powell and all the players here, it is up to us to meet them standards. It’s exciting as a whole this new start for me and I’m ready for the season to start! I need to enjoy this pre-season as best we can with all the hard work and get ready to play.”

Evalds, who will be proudly sponsored by Ergo Real Estate in 2021, joins a talented squad and will be part of an impressive all-English spine, and those key players are who he is looking to link up and work his combinations with.

“Paul McShane, Man of Steel, he’s an outstanding player isn’t he, so, I can’t wait to form a relationship with him and any of the spine really. Trueman, Richardson, O’Brien, there is some quality players here and we will build on that over pre-season and come the first game that should be looking pretty fluent.”

The retention of Gareth O’Brien for the Tigers’ 2021 squad adds further competition to not only the halves but also to the fullback spot, and that is exactly what Niall wants.

“There is competition everywhere, that’s what you need, and it keeps you on your toes. I’ve had it before competition for places makes you play better and it’s what a team like Castleford needs. You don’t want to get complacent so having that within your team is good and we’re all excited for the challenge of it. It will make us work hard in training too and push us that extra bit.”

By joining Castleford Tigers, Niall Evalds adds a lot of speed and skill to the team but he is also wanting to continue developing himself because of his personal ambitions in both domestic and international rugby.

“You aim to improve and grow every year, but also every day in training you are trying to make yourself better as a player, it’s what I’ve done throughout my career really and that is no different now. I’ve got aspirations of playing internationally and things like that and it all starts with the hard work put in on the training field every day, and then performing on a weekend. I’m here to improve the team and I’m here to improve myself.”

Over 2,000 Castleford Tigers supporters have signed up for Season Tickets at the time of writing, and whilst we don’t know when the Fords’ faithful will be back in attendance at Wheldon Road, everyone at the club cannot wait to welcome our fans back once again.

Niall knows how intimidating The Jungle can be for opposing teams, now he cannot wait to be on the home side!

“I’m so excited to play in front of them all, it will be a massively different feeling coming here as a home player than an away one, I think it will be a little bit better than being on the away side! I can’t wait to play in front of the Cas fans here, it’s a special atmosphere on a home game and I hope I do them proud. I will give it everything that I can, everything that’s possible in training and in the games to make the club succeed.”