A true Coeur de Lion, Frenchman Remi Casty has been a consistent performer for the Catalans Dragons ever since their inauguration into Super League in 2006. He debuted in that year and spent eight seasons in the south of France, scoring 18 tries in 163 appearances and winning the Rugby League International Federation’s French Player of the Year award in 2011 as well as being included in the 2012 Super League Dream Team.

A sign of how influential Casty had been at the Dragons was the fact that Sydney Roosters snapped him up prior to the 2014 season. In 12 appearances, the 6ft prop scored twice and earned numerous plaudits for his no-nonsense style and ability to get his team on the front foot.

After a year’s adventure Down Under, Casty moved back to his native France at the end of 2014 to rejoin Catalans. Since then the forward has played over another 150 games for the Dragons, getting better with each passing season. 2018 however was arguably the forward’s best of his career, as he played an integral role in Catalans’ Challenge Cup success and top eight finish.

For the first time in the competition’s 122-year history, the cup was won by a team outside Britain and it was a sign of how far Casty and the Dragons had come when just 11 years ago, Catalans had been heavily beaten by St Helens in the Challenge Cup Final. The only survivor from that day, the rampaging prop was the captain as the Dragons edged Warrington 20-14 in 2018.

Now aged 33 and in the twilight of his career, Casty has shown that the phrase “wine gets better with age” can also be true of Rugby League players. After over a decade in Super League with the Catalans Dragons, the French prop has stuck by the club when times were hard and both he and the Dragons reaped the rewards in 2018. A barnstorming prop that never takes a backwards step in defence, Casty is still very much a feared forward and one that his teammates love to play alongside.

Casty’s form in 2018 was so good that the French club gave him another two-year contract extension in June. An intimidating front-rower and a superb leader, the Frenchman was amongst the names mentioned to be in the running for the 2018 Steve Prescott Man of Steel, though he did not make the three-man shortlist. And, ahead of the 2020 season, head coach Steve McNamara once more appointed the prop as captain.

As a fantastic club player, international honours were always going to be forthcoming for Casty with the forward having currently earned 20 caps for France, scoring one try.