Is this good news for us or good news for Cas?!

We have offered Joe a very good deal, in terms of a % its actually around 30% higher than what Cas have tabled as an offer.

No deal is signed as of yet but Joe is still talking and has expressed his desire to finish his career at Cas, as I say no deal signed yet.

On current form JW should be in and he's playing a game at LF that nobody else offers, linking the forwards and backs seamlessly. That said I think Knowles will probably get the LF berth with Bateman and Whitehead 2nd rows...would love to be proven wrong tho and hope his current form and fitness lasts for as long as he stays at BV
As far as McMeeken, I acknowledge his shortcomings, as pointed out by several posters on this thread and admit that he needs to continue his current form throughout the season but if he does he could well have a role to play as an impact bench player...in much the same way as Cohen Hess was used by N QLd Cowboys when he first broke through

Wow 30% is a big difference! Hopefully one final decent deal will sway him to stay with us as he has been by far our best player in my opinion, a ball handling loose forward of his calibre is a rare commodity, he’s properly become a pillar of our team in attack and defence!!

That's a weird combination of first and second names!

I know what you mean. Seems strange with the famous Hess being who he is but I looked it up once and Hess is actually a surname that just references a place in southern Germany.
Like someone being called Wakefield, or Brough or Chester.

Before 1930s there was a large Jewish population in Germany so the names would go together.

Saying all that, I'm not sure how that surname was passed down to family in Queensland. No German connections there.

Confirmed for next year.

Castleford Tigers are thrilled to announce Joe Westerman has signed a two-year deal with the Club from the 2022 season!

Going to take some replacing.

Yeah he’s been great for us but I thought Arona always did a good job at 13. Not forgetting Brad Walker.

we lost another player who has been our best

Can’t replace him I’m afraid , very few ball playing loose forwards of his Caliber about and even rarer at a price we can afford . But we regroup and move on and thank him for his time with us , which has been special .

Can't blame him for taking the option of a two year deal especially at the club where it all started for him. Would love to read up some posts from a couple of years ago when it first came to light that he was leaving Hull to join us. I'll bet not many expected him to achieve these current dizzy heights.

We haven't "lost him" - he decided to go back to his first club.
Don't think he would have stayed with that opportunity.

[iAlways[/i knew he had six fingers.......

Joe wanted to resign with us for 2 years on the same money, but club knocked it back, I hope they have an adequate replacement lined up!

I honestly can’t believe that.

That's tosh

The way Joe has spoken about the Trinity club and the people within it, makes what you have written, Highly unlikely.

*Joined last night*.

That is absolutely not true.

We offered more than Cas by all accounts.

As for suiteable replacement. Arona is a more than competent LF and for me is less effective as a prop. Shift him back to 13 next season and sign one of Walker/Crowther.

Money would be better invested in positions we need.

Props x 3 (so Tangi can go back to left SR)!
And 2 x 9’s would be a start.

I know we did, significantly more I said that a couple of weeks back on here which was directly from Joe just before he signed on the dotted line with Cas.

Yep, I do remember you saying that.
Obviously the pull of playing for Cas was too hard to turn down.
In a way, its nice to see a player do that, even if hasn't gone in our favour on this occasion.

What an absolute load of crap,it's stated from our club that they offered MORE than Castleford but he chose to go to Castleford for LESS money

Obvious the club didn't want to renew because of the money he's on and needed a portion of it it to fund Gaskells wage.

The old Cas supporter, want to finish my career there, is just an old media trick, get the fans onside fair play to Joe, he wanted to stay.

Chester wont come out and say we are potless and cant afford to keep him is he? This is Trinity remember.

Give Crowther or Walker a fair whack at 13 for a season next year if they cannot afford to replace Joe.