I also see Salford have released a statement basically criticising Evalds for moving, despite the fact that his contract is due to expire so he’s doing something that he is entitled to do.
They seem to have forgotten how they went about throwing money at players who were still under contract at other clubs when Koukash was splashing the cash.

Koukash is long gone and the club is run completely different these days.
By all accounts Niall was offered a great contract by Salford, 3 year deal, guaranteed testimonial etc and was on the verge of signing it a couple of months back only for his "representatives" (Iestyn Harris' name has been mentioned) to then ask for more time at the last minute.

So yeah, seems like it's the old adage of agents getting involved which has engineered the move in order to line their own pockets. Seeing as though the new contract we offered was almost signed back in Feb it seems strange how things were put on hold for him to consider other options. Isn't 1st May the date where other clubs can speak to players under contract?



Although I'm sure you have the inside knowledge on this one NottinghamTiger as you've spent plenty of time on our board in the past imparting us with your wisdom.

In fairness,and respect to,Castleford,they have not announced the signing because,technically,the season still has a long way to go.

The Salford club,with respect to them,have informed their supporters and sponsors,what has gone on due to the fact the rugby league press have reported the matter.

The 2 clubs have acted responsibly.

The Castleford followers seem to have recalled Rangi Chase,and the circumstances of his departure.

Bit of a shame.2 different players and completely different personnel at both clubs.

Yes, I gave up as you can’t educate some people (only joking). No insider knowledge here, though.
Ultimately Evalds is well within his rights to leave at the end of his contract. It’s something that happens every year in RL and many other sports. It seems a bit bitter of Salford to basically produce a statement criticising their own player for doing something he’s perfectly entitled to do.
If Salford wanted to retain him, they should have been trying to do so before he entered the last twelve months of his contract. February was far too late to offer a contract to a star player who could speak to other clubs from May. That’s poor management from the Salford club, but they are trying to divert the fans’ disappointment towards the player rather than toward them for acting far too slowly.

Ain't karma a biatch.

Yeah, it’s completely different.
Cas have signed a player who is entitled to move at the end of his contract. Every club does this every season. Cas signed Griffin and Olpherts in exactly the same way last year. It’s the norm.
Salford signed Rangi Chase after tempting him into requesting a transfer. The club owner wined and dined him at posh restaurants, named race horses after him and ‘loaned’ him expensive cars even when he was still at Cas. He did the same to other players at different clubs too. What Salford did to sign players was revealed in the Tony Puletua case - payments prior to signing so that they didn’t appear on the salary cap, and substantial “contracts” with Koukash-owned companies that didn’t have any requirement for the player to do anything.
It’s not Karma. Cas are doing nothing wrong by signing Evalds, unlike when Salford signed Chase (and others).

You think Salford started trying to retain Niall's services in February?


The deal was as good as done in February as I stated above, something happened at that point to delay things (before other clubs were legally entitled to speak to him) hence that deal not getting signed. The club did everything they could to tie him down to a long-term deal so, as per usual, you're talking crap.

Salford clearly point out in their statement that they are disappointed this has been announced in the press without their knowledge. So that's either down to Niall, his agent, or Cas themselves. Looks like his agent is the culprit unless Niall himself has told friends, who have then leaked the info.

PS. Well done to Cas for tying up a deal within a week of a player becoming free to talk to. Impressive work.

Maybe they didn’t offer the first deal in February, but it won’t have been much earlier. Salford should have signed him up before 2019, or at least in early 2019, if they were so desperate for him to stay. Unless of course he was always planning on moving, in which case the club couldn’t really do much. However, Salford’s statement seems to be very bitter about something that’s just normal in today’s game - a player moving clubs at the end of his contract.

I doubt Cas leaked the news. Firstly, Cas usually work about two months behind everybody else when it comes to PR. Secondly, it would have been better for Cas to make the announcement before it became a well-known secret. The news only went beyond a rumour (and they happen all the time) when a Salford director (Paul King) confirmed Evalds was leaving on Twitter. Again, Salford are trying to blame the player/his agent for this, when in fact it was a club director that confirmed what was, at the time, just speculation.

PS - we’re getting a bit of a reputation for this. We got in for Mata’utia just ahead of St Helens, the Liam Watts deal was done in 24 hours (much to Shaun Wane and Brian McDermott’s annoyance) and now we’ve done the same with Evalds. Jon Wells is certainly earning his money.

Yeah, the season started and Evalds realised he was playing in a team with Kev Brown and Tui Lolohea rather than Robert Lui and Jackson Hastings.
Only joking.

A bit unfair on Walker, he's only played twice! However, there is no doubt Evalds has more experience.

Nowhere have I suggested Castleford have done anything wrong.

I suspect your imagination is running away,slightly,possibly based on information gleaned from Tony Puletua.You solicitors,eh?

Let's hope these footballers don't rush back playing the sport and ruining it for others by having the sport curtailed,along with the attendance of spectators,for 2021.

He will have earnt his money when you win something !

We could be waiting a while, then!
All in context, though.

I see Evalds has been receiving abuse on social media for his departure ! Did this happen to Josh Griffin, Hastings, Josh Jones, Jake Bibby etc ? I don't think Salford helped the situation by expressing their disappointment in the players decision. Niall has been at the club for 11 years....surely that is long enough !

I dont think that fans of any club like it when their better players move on and the anger is aimed at everyone involved, the player (for leaving), the club (for allowing him to leave) and the new club (for daring to sign them), plus the fans of the new club who like to rub it in.
But, players coming and going is just a fact of life, just as "tapping up" and "dodgy" agents are.
Ultimately, if a player isn't happy or moves on "for success", who can blame them and when the dust settles on this one, the Salford fans will be grateful for the job that Evalds has done well for them for so long.
The other aspect is that nobody knows the full personal situation between the player and the club.

Having said that, news leaking out on signings, whether that be from player, agent or either club, is mickey poor but, this is the only area of complaint - life goes on.

Who is his agent ?

Iestyn Harris,apparently.

I think he was interviewed to assist Noble but ended up being appointed head coach.

Very good signing for Cas that.

Also good to see Salford get a taste of their own medicine

what a surprise .

At least its legal !

[url=https://www.richarddelariviere.co.uk/?p=327He Seems Experienced[/url

You not been banned yet you lowlife pr1ck?

Harris is also Jackson Hastings agent amongst others I believe.

Sounds like Harris strung the club along during negotiations in order to bump up any deal with Cas so it looks like his tactics worked. Having seen the way Watson (coach), Blease (Ops Director) & Paul King (Director) work at Salford i trust them implicitly. Had it been Koukash involved I think it's fair to say that trust may have been misplaced but the current set-up are very transparent in the way they work and in our eternal precarious position I wouldn't trust anyone to do a better job tbh.

Always a few f*ckwits on FB & Twitter that go too far but I've seen nothing that's gone further than the odd moronic comment coming from a so-called "fan" who probably has an IQ lower than my rapidly expanding waistline.



If I had my way FB & Twitter wouldn't exist. They just seem to bring out the worst in people but unfortunately it seems some people's lives revolve around them which is sad in itself.

With regards the Salford statement. It was put out because some tin-pot journo wanted his 5 minutes of fame by leaking the deal which Evalds/Harris hadn't even discussed with Salford. Poor form all-round IMO but the Salford hierarchy have every right to make a statement to try and put across their side of the story.

What's done is done, however, so time to move on. Niall has given us great service it's just a shame it's ended this way. As fans we've all seen players we love leave our clubs, it's a fact of life, especially for teams like Salford who continually have their talent stripped away by the "big boys". It's just the manner of the departure that sometimes rankles.