No early move for Niall Evalds as Castleford confirm signing for 2021

Castleford have confirmed the signing of Salford full-back Niall Evalds for 2021 on a one-year deal.

Evalds, 27, has scored more than 100 tries for the Red Devils making him their all-time leading Super League try scorer, and his exit was reported in the media several months ago.

The departure of Jordan Rankin led to speculation that Castleford may try to bring Evalds in earlier, but he has confirmed his commitment to Salford for the rest of the year – with the two clubs set to go head-to-head on Thursday.

He said: “I’ve still got a job to do with Salford this season but it’s going to be an exciting year for me next year.

“I’ve been at Salford a long time so this was an opportunity to take up a new challenge at Cas and have to prove myself all over again.

“I had a phone conversation with Powelly and he spoke about what he expected from me and what he thought the club and himself could offer me personally, hopefully helping me with the international scene and things like that.”

Head coach Powell added: “Niall is such a high-quality player with a real instinct for rugby league. He gets on the end of things and he’s got real pace, which we saw last year when he ran down Jordan Rankin to stop him scoring in the play-off match. That was a pivotal moment in the game and showed that Niall can do special things with and without the ball.

“He scores great tries, his passing game has improved and we think we can help him to play international football. He’s obviously improved significantly at Salford and we think we can help him go to the next level again, so we’re delighted he’s agreed to come to us.

“Full back is such a key position now in a rugby league team which makes this an important signing for us.”