Massey extends Cas contract

The forward is one of the Tigers’ #ONECLUB men, joining when he was 15 years of age, during his time in the Academy, he was awarded with the Tigers Academy Player of the Year in 2007 before going on to make his professional debut in the same year.

It has been a memorable journey from his debut against Lock Lane in the Challenge Cup, to appearing in his 250th match for the club away at Salford just a couple of weeks ago.

The 31-year old is planning on making plenty more appearances for Castleford after agreeing to his 16th and 17th seasons as a Castleford Tigers player.

Speaking to castlefordtigers.com Massey stated just how pleased he is to be staying at the Club he has represented since he was a teenager.

“I am obviously over the moon because I’ve made it no secret that I wanted to stay here. This next two years is going to be big for me and it will take me to near the end of my career. I’ve said that if it was possible to finish my career here and this contract might take me to that.

“I am proud to play for this club and I feel privileged to pull the shirt on every week and hopefully the next two years are going to be another good few years for the club.”

Castleford’s #14 has played an integral part in the Tigers’ impressive start to the campaign, regularly putting in 60-to-70-minute shifts each game. Massey explained that it has been a pleasing first couple of months for himself and the team, however, he believes there is still much more to come.

“We’ve been winning which is the main thing, but I think we are playing at 60 percent because is big improvement in us. We have got another couple of boys coming back in the next few weeks which will strengthen the team in terms of competition for places.

“We’ve got plenty of work to do but it’s been a strong start to the season and hopefully we can keep building.

“There is plenty of motivation to finish this season on a high with Powelly [Daryl Powell] leaving after what he has done for the club. It’s a bit of an end of an era for us this year so there is plenty of motivation in there to win some silverware.”

Looking to next season and beyond, Massey’s extension means he will be working under new Head Coach Lee Radford in 2022, and he is looking forward to the two-time Challenge Cup winning coach’s vision for the Tigers.

“I’ve had a chat with Radders [Lee Radford] just to chat about the club and things like that. It’s exciting. Not so much has to change but some fresh ideas and a different sort of game plan that he will probably bring is exciting.”

Monday night’s match at home to Hull KR will be the first time in over a year that Castleford Tigers will welcome supporters back to The Mend-A-Hose Jungle. Massey is certain that the Fords faithful will give the team that extra push to get the job done against the Robins.

“It’s going to be a bit weird because it has been such a long time since we have had them down here. They are a big part of our club and hopefully they are going to be the ones who can take us to the next level come Monday night.”

Castleford’s Head Coach from 2022 Lee Radford spoke highly of Nathan Massey and shared his excitement about confirming he will remain at Tigers in 2022 and 2023.

“He optimises what Castleford is all about really. He is an honest, hardworking and does things that the untrained eye doesn’t see.

“He’s really tidy in and around the ruck and it’s because of players like him that Castleford have been as successful as they have been in seasons gone by. I’m really looking forward to working with him.”