Ryan Hampshire hoping for another chance with Castleford Tigers after rehab

The 27-year-old is officially unattached after his contract expired at the end of November, although he is still at Castleford full-time as he continues his ACL rehabilitation, writes James O’Brien.

Hampshire suffered the injury in late June and is on track to return inside nine months, meaning he will only miss the early stages of the new campaign.

The utility back’s preference is to stay at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

He said: “We're in talks at the minute to get something done and a deal we can both be happy with.

"We'll see what happens, whether it's there or something else comes up.

"Cas always said they wanted to keep me; it was just a case of seeing how the injury progressed.

"I can start running in the next few weeks so I'm looking to be back around March time. I'll only miss five or six games."

Hampshire was listed among the departing players at the end of the 2022 season, but it was not all doom and gloom for the former Normanton Knights junior after the club pledged to help him back to full fitness.

He is grateful for Castleford’s support at a testing time for the medical team after Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson suffered similar injuries.

"It was a massive boost to be able to do my rehab at the club,” said Hampshire.

"I can't speak highly enough of Matty Crowther. He went through it as a player when he did his ACL and knows the process inside out.

"He knows when to load the knee and when not to load it and when to get it moving and when to leave it. He's been brilliant.

"All the coaching, medical and conditioning staff have been really good. I can't speak highly enough of them, especially the medical staff. They had Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson as well so it's been pretty challenging for them."

It has been a taxing 12 months for Hampshire since leaving Wakefield Trinity at the end of last year.

He eventually landed a deal in March when he was snapped up by Castleford, only to break his hand in his first match for the reserves.

Hampshire made a positive impression on his return to action before seeing his season wrecked by a serious knee injury.

"Waiting around for a club last year and having talks that break down is a hard position to be in," he explained.

"I think most rugby players would struggle in that situation. You couldn't write it with the injuries as well.

"I still need to get myself fit no matter what happens now just for normal life. It's hard but it's adversity I've got to get on with."

Paul McShane motivated to kick on again with Castleford Tigers

Hampshire would compete with Niall Evalds for the full-back spot at Castleford while providing half-back cover and maybe even winger cover as in his first spell with the Tigers.

At 27, he is optimistic his best years are still in front of him.

"After having all that time off last year, I came back for five games and was playing better than I have done in a long time," he added.

"My work rate was really high and the coaches were really, really happy with what I brought to Cas and how I improved the team.

"There's no reason why I can't come back better if I've been training for nine months."