Castleford Tigers coach Andy Last laughs off Kruise Leeming suggestion as he talks up Paul McShane influence

Leeming, who captained Leeds in last year's Grand Final, is on his way out of Headingley after requesting an immediate release from his contract.

The 27-year-old has been linked with a move to the NRL but news of availability has not gone unnoticed in Super League circles.

Castleford are on the lookout for a fresh body following the sudden departure of Jake Mamo but a move for Leeming is unlikely.

"We've just had our best performance of the season by Paul McShane so I don't want to be talking about Kruise Leeming," laughed Last when asked in his post-match press conference.

"Someone mentioned in the coaches room that he'd been granted a release. Obviously something must have happened there for him to have made that decision.

"There's always players coming up. If and when we need to, we can explore it."

Led by inspirational captain McShane, the Tigers got off the mark at the fifth attempt on Thursday night with a gutsy 14-8 win over their bitter rivals.

The 33-year-old got through 45 tackles and was at his scheming best around the ruck.

"He's got a big influence on the way we go about our business in the week," said Last.

"He's a big influence in the changing room and the players all respect him, which is why he's our captain.

"He came up with some telling plays. He'll be dirty on one or two of the decisions he made – he probably made the wrong decision to kick after he made the break on play two.

"The thing with Paul is he does self-reflect and is a harsh critic of himself.

"He'll know there are still things he needs to improve – but he spoke passionately about making sure that he played well and led the team well by controlling the game out of nine."

Last has openly spoken of his desire to replace Lee Radford permanently after taking over on an interim basis earlier this month.

The England assistant coach remains in the dark about his prospects of landing a first head coach role.

“I’ve had no conversations with the management in terms of when they’ll come to make a decision,” he added. “I’ll just keep taking it week by week and hopefully leading more performances like that.

“Hopefully I’m doing enough to convince the decision-makers here that I can get this club moving forward. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want to be that person and performances like that can only strengthen my position.”