Chase set for farewell as Tigers fans get look into future

England star Rangi Chase is ready to make his final home appearance for Castleford against the side he is all set to join in a lucrative six-figure deal.

Ambitious Salford have made a third bid for the 2011 Man of Steel, who requested a transfer and that is being weighed up the West Yorkshire club.

However, it is thought the switch has long since been agreed and Marc Sneyd – Salford’s 22-year-old goal-kicking half-back – will move to Wheldon Road on a season-long loan for 2014. Both he and Ashley Gibson – the ex-Leeds Rhinos three-quarter who confirmed he will join Castleford on a two-year deal – will feature for the visitors tomorrow so Castleford fans get a look at what is coming their way.

Salford owner Marwan Koukash hopes to confirm Chase’s capture next Thursday and Castleford coach Daryl Powell admits he is planning for life without the gifted 27-year-old.

“He has put in a transfer request and the board are deliberating that at the moment,” he said.

“I am not certain exactly what is happening but I think there’s a strong chance he will leave the club at the end of the season. I will be preparing the squad for next season on the basis of that.”

Such fervoured speculation would ordinarily place a player under plenty of pressure but Powell expects Chase to handle that tomorrow.

“There has been speculation surrounding him for a couple of years,” he said. “I think certainly while I’ve been at the club – this will be the 12th game – he has been outstanding in the vast majority of those.

“He has got used to speculation surrounding him and he won’t let it worry him too much.”

With those two players in Salford’s ranks, too, Powell admitted: “It will be an interesting one from a press point of view.

“There will be quite a lot of speculation around and there has been for quite a while.

“You tend to get a bit of this at the back end of the season, because there’s always players moving around. For me, it’s all about us playing well and continuing to improve, which I think we’ve been doing for quite a few weeks.”

They are seeking a third successive win which would keep them on target to finish 10th, a respectable position given they were bottom when he took over.

They lost 34-30 at Salford in April, a game which brought controversy after the hosts were deducted two point for briefly having 14 players on the pitch near the end.

But Powell, who could give a debut to youngster Ben Reynolds, said: “Both teams have improved. They nearly beat Hull a couple of weeks back and beat Catalan recently. They’ve been really competitive in most games and we have as well. It should be a really good contest.”