A new rule saw a try now worth 4 points – Kevin Beardmore having the honour of scoring Castleford’s first one. This year also saw the introduction of the sin bin.

This season was a much stronger one, with the record of P30 W18 D3 L9 giving a position of 4th from 16. A total of 41 games were played and 30 players used. John Joyner had a notable 4 try performance in a 40-12 win over Salford and hat tricks in the season also came from Robert Beardmore and Brett Atkins. 10 wins in the first 11 games proved to be good foundations for the season, and attendances reflected this as the average rose by 740 to 4288.

The season as a whole was sandwiched between 2 cup finals, both unfortunately ending in defeat. The front end of the season saw Castleford battle to the Yorkshire Cup final to play Hull again. A score of 2–13 in front of 14,049 saw Castleford unable to beat their bogey team. At the end of the season Castleford got through to the Premiership Final to play Hull KR but a 10–18 defeat in front of 12,482 brought more disappointment. As a small consolation, Castleford had at least gone to Hull in the semi-final and beaten them 22–12, to at least get that monkey off their backs. The hoodoo had seemed stronger than ever in the John Player game at Castleford on 6 November when Hull had 2 men sent off after half an hour but still went on to win 8-4 with 11 men. The Premiership semi-final win was therefore especially pleasing when the tables were turned against a team who had beaten Castleford 4 times, and just won their last 8 games, scoring over 300 points.

Robert Beardmore again hit the ton of goals, with 140. This together with his 2 drop goals and 13 tries gave him a new club points scoring record of 334, beating Sammy Lloyd's 331 points in 1976/77 and in 9 fewer games. He topped the goalscoring charts, sharing the honour with Steve Hesford of Warrington. October saw him hit the heights when he set a First Division record by scoring 34 points in a 54–4 win over Leeds, a defeat that led Leeds coach Robin Dewhurst to resign.

There had been a strong feeling for success in the Challenge Cup, but a shock 12-14 defeat to a Graham Steadman inspired York brought disappointment.

This year saw Castleford getting the best from their temporary overseas players in a long time. Steve Robinson and Brett Atkins from Australia and Gary Freeman the future New Zealand international all provided strong contributions to the team. On a less happy note, Barry Johnson suffered a broken jaw on 2 occasions, causing him to consider his future after a specialist advised him to retire.

On the transfer scene, Castleford were expressing interest in signing Steve Norton or David Topliss from Hull, the former having announced his shock retirement. A cash offer was made for Topliss but rejected.

At the season end, "A" team coach Geoff Wraith left to take over the first team at Wakefield Trinity although he resigned after only 7 games. The "A" team had again finished top of the league table, and got to the Play-Off final only to lose 16–20 to Hull KR. Kevin Jones was Player of the Year. The Colts had also finished top of the league, by a 6 point margin over Leeds. They won their Challenge Cup 24–11 over Hull with Dean Mountain Man of the Match.

John Joyner completed 10 years at the club and his benefit year began in December 1983. His events crossed all spectrums from darts and domino nights to fish and chip disco to a cheese and wine party. He eventually went on to raise £13,200

In recognition, Robert Beardmore was Sunday People Man of the Month for October and shared the top goal kickers award of £5 per goal, pocketing £355 after dividing the £710 prize-money with Steve Hesford. He also won a Daily Express periodic award in September of £100 plus a £100 tailoring voucher. He was 1 of 8 nominations for the Professional Players Association Player of the Year trophy but lost out to Deryk Fox of Featherstone.

Castleford won the Daily Mirror Team of the Month for February 1984.

Representatives

John Joyner and Kevin Ward played for Great Britain Kevin Beardmore and John Joyner toured Australasia with Great Britain Keith England played for Great Britain under 24 Ian Fletcher played for Great Britain Colts Ian Fletcher Martin Ketteridge and John Magyar played for Yorkshire Colts

Debuts

Kevin Jones stand-off Castleford Colts Neil Battye sub forward Castleford Colts Dean Mountain sub forward Castleford Colts

Last career game played this season and next move

Paul Spedding prop Signed for Mansfield Marksmen in 1984/85 Kevin Anderson prop struck off the register in 1987/88 after not playing for a number of years. Alan Hardy prop. In 1984/85 returned after trial with Carlisle but later signed permanently Jimmy Crampton second row signed for Hunslet in 1985/86

Overseas Short term Contract players

Gary Freeman New Zealand stand-off from Kent Invicta Steve Robinson centre Penrith, Australia to season end Brett Atkins 2nd row Manly Australia to season end. First stint. Final stint 1986/87.