Radford's back! Can he provide the key to the trophy cabinet?

Following a period of intense speculation, it was today confirmed that Lee Radford will return to rugby league for the 2022 season with Castleford. It is the start of a new era for Castleford, which has caused nervousness for some fans, who have enjoyed the stability of the Daryl Powell era and are still scarred by the Ian Millward era.

Lee Radford's only head coach role has been with Hull FC, a time which brought many highs and lows. The highs came in the form of Challenge Cup wins. Hull FC were taunted for so many years by rivals Hull KR for a wretched Wembley record. As the song goes, or to be accurate went, 'you'll never win at Wembley'.

Radford will always be remembered in West Hull as the man who consigned that terrible Wembley record and that song to the history bin. Sport means a lot. It is more than just a game. I recall reading emotional accounts of Hull FC fans, following their 2016 Wembley success against Warrington, remembering loved ones, FC fans their whole life, who were no longer here to see the monkey get off their back.

If winning at Wembley quietens your rivals, doing it back to back (and surpassing their rivals Wembley record in the process) shuts them up. To win consecutive Challenge Cups is a big achievement and one that Radford never really got the credit he deserved for. There are two major prizes to win each year, and under Radford's reign, the black and whites were one of those teams twice. 

At Castleford, Daryl Powell may not have won either the Super League or Challenge Cup, but has done a marvellous job. In 2013, when Powell took over, Castleford were near the bottom of the table, were in the financial mire and crowds were falling. By the end of the 2014 season, Castleford missed out on the League Leaders Shield by losing on the final day of the regular season. By 2017, Castleford won the minor premiership and made the Grand Final.

They may have lost, but that was not helped by news of Zak Hardaker's drugs ban breaking just two days before the big day. Like Radford at Hull FC, when Powell leaves Castleford, their fans will have memories never to be forgotten. 'Sweet Caroline' ringing around the ground as Castleford beat Wigan in 2014 with a late try (arguably the first sign that they were a serious force), a full house seeing Castleford defeat Wakefield to win the League Leaders Shield, that Luke Gale golden point winner - truly glorious moments.

Castleford have come close but have not taken the final step to win a major honour. Radford has a history of taking a side to that next level. Castleford will hope he can do the same with them.

I mentioned at the start of this piece that Radford's time at Hull FC had some lows. And when his Hull FC side were bad, well boy they were bad. A 50 point defeat at Widnes in 2016 where Radford was locked out of the dressing room by the players. An 80 point defeat against Warrington in 2018. Radford's final game saw his side perform shambolically in a pathetic surrender against Warrington.

I could have listed many more examples, these were just the most egregious. You would never associate the words 'shambolic', 'pathetic' or 'surrender' with Castleford under Daryl Powell. Some Castleford fans may harbour concerns that Radford comes with a record of feast or famine, with little consistency or middle ground.

Radford is experienced at this level and a proven trophy winner. But chaos never seemed to be too far away. This is the antitheses of Powell's time at Castleford, a consistent era where the Tigers came just short.

With Powell leaving, the only prediction I would be brave enough to make about Radford's arrival is it will be very different. It may be a disaster, it may a masterstroke. I don't think it will be in between the two. But that's why we love sport, you just don't know what is around the corner.