It’s been a disappointing 2025 season for Castleford Tigers but the building blocks for a much-improved 2026 have already been laid with recruitment well underway and importantly, the signings made thus far are of a high quality.
Castleford made a host of signings ahead of the 2025 season but barring Zac Cini, few could be said to have been definite hits.
Daejarn Asi has shown flashes whilst Jeremiah Simbiken, when on the field, has been good but the second-rower has struggled with injuries and suspensions, whereas fellow overseas recruit Judah Rimbu was released mid-season.
So far the Tigers have signed five for 2026 with owner Martin Jepson teasing more to come as director of rugby Chris Chester sets about his work.
Joe Stimson has been brought in early and will be all the better for it next year, whilst fellow forward Brock Greacen has been added from Newcastle Knights. Yet to play in the NRL, Greacen could be a boom or bust prospect but the other two NRL recruits bring proven quality.
Blake Taafe has played in an NRL Grand Final whilst winger Mikaele Ravalawa has an impressive record of 67 tries in 101 NRL games. Semi Valemei has also joined from North Queensland Cowboys.
Castleford signing ‘can’t wait to come over’
Ravalawa is one of the most recent recruits with the Fijian winger leaving St George Illawarra Dragons a year early to become part of the Tigers’ project and he offers something that none of the club’s current wingers do.
The 27-year-old is an incredibly powerful runner and could be one of Super League’s best next year at building sets from the metres made out of yardage.
Speaking to club media about what fans can expect, that’s something he teased as he asserted: “I just can’t wait to come over and start new again. I just want to get back on the field with the yardage carries and get the team out of our end zone and keep running hard.”
Having previously travelled to England for the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, Ravalawa is set for his second trip overseas, something he labelled as ‘exciting’ and that was the theme of his recent comments with the 27-year-old clearly keen to make an impact at the Jungle.
“I’m really excited to come and join a new team and (be in) a new facility. I can’t wait to come over,” he explained, before speaking about how the deal came about.
He added: “It was really good, I was happy with the way that he (Chris Chester) was treating me and talking to me. He was really positive about everything and moving over here so it was really good.”
What can Castleford Tigers fans expect from Mikaele Ravalawa?
As a profile, Ravalawa is incredibly similar to a 2025 Super League signing, however, the player he compares to hasn’t played yet.
The 27-year-old stacks up physically and in terms of play style to Leeds Rhinos’ Maika Sivo and the prospect of both men lining up against each other, possibly on the same wing, in a West Yorkshire derby in 2026 is mouth-watering.
At just over six foot and 106 kilograms, Ravalawa is a thick-set powerful winger who is brilliant at making metres out of yardage, as he previewed.
Castleford have struggled in that aspect with current wingers Innes Senior and Josh Simm being more slender frames and understandably finding it harder to set a platform in the early tackles.
Not only is Ravalawa a metre maker out of yardage, he’s also a prolific try-scorer, scoring at a rate of two every three games in the NRL when playing for the Dragons. He’s been on loan with the Rabbitohs in 2025 and has played just three times but his 80-minute average for metres made stands at a whopping 175.
During his career with the Dragons, he has averaged 142 running metres per game which eclipses the 91 and 115 metres respectively averaged by Castleford’s most common wing pairing of Simm and Innes Senior in 2025.
Castleford Tigers fans can expect plenty of power, plenty of metres, and plenty of tries over the course of the next three years when it comes to Mikaeale Ravalawa.
