TIGERS APPOINT WHITTAKER AS HEAD OF PERFORMANCE

Castleford Tigers are delighted to announce the appointment of Gareth Whittaker to the role of Head of Performance ahead of the 2027 Super League season. 

Whittaker joins the club from Huddersfield Giants, and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience across the sport. 

"I'm over the moon really to be joining. I came and met the club a couple of weeks ago and they talked to me about the vision and what they want to build up here. It fits with my philosophies of what I want to do and there's a lot of exciting things going on both on and off the field, training facility wise and stuff like that. So it was a good decision to join Castleford."

Whittaker began his professional career with Warrington and Featherstone, before switching codes to spend 5 years with the Welsh RFU. He returned to the thirteen man game with Salford, working alongside new head coach Paul Rowley before spending the 2026 Super League season with Huddersfield Giants. 

He will now make the switch to The OneBore Stadium heading up our performance and strength and conditioning department.

"I've always been involved in sport and conditioning. I did a Masters in Sport Science and Strength and Conditioning at the University of Chester, so that's my academic background. And I also did some lecturing, but in terms of professional Rugby, I started my career at Warrington Wolves in the academies there alongside some work with the first team."

"I think one of the biggest reasons when the club approached me was the joined up thinking and philosophy we share and that I knew and had an existing relationship with the new coaches. I've worked with Paul, Simon, Luke and Marc before so know them all very well. I worked really closely with Rowls during the four seasons we spent at Salford, so I knew it would be a case of coming in and hitting the ground running. I know exactly what his expectations are, how he wants his days to run, how he wants his conditioning to run. It made the decision really easy knowing that I know the systems he wants to put in place."

"I think everyone does the same things across the board in all different sports, but one thing I do pride myself on is being very organised. I think that being head of performance, I'm often spinning a lot of plates. So I pride myself on bringing that organisation and just being the glue that brings everything together, from the physio and medical side of things to the coaching and performance side, and just try and make it a one fit multi disciplinary team."

When quizzed on his key attributes for the role, Gareth commented: "I'd say energy and enthusiasm. I probably survive on caffeine, it's the best friend for my work ethic. I pride myself on being first in and last out, I think Rugby League needs that as it's not a sport that is blessed with an embarrassment of riches. You have to put the hard yards in, especially in the S&C department as you're looking after anywhere between 35 and 40 individuals who all have individual needs. So work ethic, organisation and energy - that's what I want to try and bring to the party, shall we say." 

When questioned on how important building a positive culture at the club can be, Whittaker continued: "I think it's massively important. I'm big on the phrase 'it takes no talent', one thing I do hang my hat on is being able to do the things that require no talent. That's what I want to pride our athletes on and the club on, so on the field it might be effort in kick pressure and line speed, but off the pitch it might be putting a water bottle in the bin and cleaning up after yourselves when you're finished with it. It's about being a good person around the place. 

"I think day one is just going to be about getting around the lads and meeting everyone. I think I've worked with only 2 of the current players previously so I don't know much about them in terms of as people and as players. Obviously, I've played against them with other teams so I think day one is going to be about introducing myself, going over the structure and how I see pre season going, and find out how I can help." 

"I'm not here to throw everything out and start again because there's some really good stuff that I've been unearthing while speaking to the physio staff and coaching team that's already in place. I don't want to change everything, I just want sit back, have a look at how it operates and how it works and slowly start to put my input into it. I'm just here to try and improve what's already been put in place and build on that really."

"I'm excited and ready to get started."

#COYF #WelcomeGareth #Tigers2027