Castleford Tigers head of rugby insists there are no issues surrounding pay at the Super League club – and admits players posting on social media about issues is ‘indicative’ of the culture they are trying to move on from.
There was a stir over the weekend after departing forward George Griffin, who has subsequently left to sign for Championship side Sheffield Eagles, revealed he and some others who were leaving the club had been paid late for the last two months.
The club insisted on Monday that all pay had now been resolved and insisted the matter would not happen again, with the issue understood to be relating to players who are on compromise agreements being placed on a different payroll.
Chester stressed things should have been communicated to those players better, but admitted he was disappointed to see the matter play out on social media before seemingly taking a swipe at Griffin for the situation.
“I think it’s disappointing to be sent it first and foremost on social media,” Chester said. “All contracted players and staff were paid on Friday and the players that all signed compromised deals were paid today.
“As a club, we should have communicated that a little better but I think everything has been blown out of proportion. There are no issues at the club.
“It’s indicative of the kind of culture we’ve had at the club in the past that they feel the need to put it out on their social media. We should have communicated that a little better but it’s all been sorted.”
Griffin, when posting on social media, said: “I really didn’t want to leave Castleford Tigers on a bad note as I enjoyed time there, but for consecutive months now myself and everyone else that has left the club has received their contractual payment late and have been unable to pay their bills.
“No one at the club seems to know what’s going on or passes blame to others. It seems Castleford Tigers need to stop shopping at Netto for their staff and start looking elsewhere.”
That is in reference to a comment Chester made earlier this year when he said the club would no longer be ‘shopping at Netto’ for their players.
When asked if he wished he had phrased that differently, Chester said on Monday: “No, not really.
“I said that in the moment and I wish George Griffin well at Sheffield Eagles. We’ve moved on as a club. We’ve signed some top-quality individuals – top-quality players, top-quality people.
“The culture will be a different culture than what we’ve had in the past.”
