Lynch urges Tigers to believe

Castleford prop Andy Lynch has urged his team-mates to believe in themselves, and he is sure that they can improve on last season.

The Tigers finished just outside the top four in Super League in the end, but Lynch felt that they suffered with injury, and can do better in 2017.

“I think there’s an expectancy that we will go better than last year,” he told Love Rugby League.

“We’ve got to have the belief we can actually do that.

“Going back to last year, there were a lot of positives to come out of that year.

“To say that every week, we probably had 10 to 13 regulars sat on bench, which probably didn’t get recognised when other teams were complaining about their injuries.

“The young players who came in and did their job – that’s put us in a mouch better position this year.

“We probably were unlucky not to get in that top four.

“If the points had been cleared in that top eight to zero, we’d have probably been in the top two.

“So, if you look at it like that, it is disappointing to say that we didn’t get anything from that.

“The standard we showed in the last seven games was up there with the best.”

Lynch is very much the senior player at Cas, being, at 37, very definitely the club’s senior forward.

The veteran enjoys the responsibility that that brings, but stresses that every player is equally as important, and needs to play well every week to contribute fully to the cause.

“You do thrive on it, but it’s not just me,” he said.

“Every position is important. If you take ownership of your role, and do your role right to the best of your ability, that means there’s 17 top quality guys performing together.

“If we do that well, and do it consistently every week, then it’s going to be a real good year for Cas Tigers.

“Us together as a team, we are willing to go through that pain barrier to be where we need to be.”