Castleford Tigers boss Craig Lingard believes it can be regarded as a successful season in the circumstances they found themselves in if they can finish above Huddersfield Giants in ninth place in the Betfred Super League.
With both the Tigers and Giants losing last weekend there is just one point between them in the table and Cas can go above their rivals if they beat them in the last of the Magic Weekend games at Elland Road this Sunday.
“We’ve got an opportunity to try and get above Huddersfield in that bottom four and try to be the top of the bottom four and that’s our ultimate goal this year,” said head coach Lingard.
“We’re just really conscious now that we don’t let the season peter out and be a negative end of the season.”
In a season of ups and downs Cas won three games on the spin, including beating title-chasing Catalans, and pushed some of the biggest clubs in the division close not that long ago.
But they have now suffered three defeats in a row after picking up some frustrating injuries and Lingard reckons it has shown where they are as a club this year.
He explained: “We’ve got a fair share of injuries but we’re not using that as an excuse. It’s just where we are as a group.
“We’ve got players that haven’t played at the top-end Super League teams and consistently played in Super League so it’s a massive learning curve for these players.
“We’ve given a lot of these players a lot of first-team rugby this year, so they’re going to be 20 or 25 Super League games more experienced at the start of next season compared to where they were at the start of this season.
“We’re hoping to get maybe three or four quality signings that are going to improve our current 17 and build on that.
“We know it’s not going to happen overnight, but I guess at this moment in time we’re probably a little bit ahead of where we thought we were going to be.