Loan ranger Gareth O'Brien vows to repay Castleford Tigers for keeping his season alive

The former Warrington Wolves and Salford Red Devils full-back joined Tigers on loan from Toronto Wolfpack last month and has scored two tries in four games.

The move - his second loan spell at Castleford after a two-match stint in 2013 - has solved a problem position for Tigers and given O’Brien an opportunity to play following Wolfpack’s withdrawal from the Betfred Super League and Coral Challenge Cup competitions this year.

“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “It has been good to get back playing rugby and to get into some sort of routine and normality again.”

O’Brien admitted: “I am my own worst critic, every game I play I am always thinking of something I could have done better or breaking down each involvement I have - should I have made this decision or that? I am getting used to how Castleford play in attack and the systems, but I think I’ve improved slightly each week so, overall, I am happy with how I’ve gone after such a long lay-off.

“Cas are very attack-minded, which is a massive part of the full-back position nowadays.

“Everyone runs the same plays, it’s just getting used to the calls and getting back up to speed with it.

“It has been a nice change and it has taken my mind off the things going on at Toronto at the minute.”

Wolfpack’s last game was in March and players have gone unpaid for several months.

“It has not been good,” O’Brien admitted of the situation at the Canadian club.

“Players who haven’t managed to find a club are still going through a tough time and that’s why I was really grateful to Cas for giving me this opportunity to play and get back to some sort of normality, keeping myself fit and in the shop window.”

Tigers have signed England Knights full-back Niall Evalds from Salford Red Devils for next year onwards, but O’Brien - who can also play in the halves - confirmed: “I am on loan until the end of the season. I am still contracted to Toronto for the next two seasons, all being well and good.

“If that comes through I’ll be looking forward to getting back there and playing there next year.

“However, if that doesn’t come off and there’s opportunities elsewhere - whether at Cas or somewhere else - I’ll definitely be looking at that.”

After just one win since lockdown ended, Tigers have slipped to sixth in Super League and O’Brien warned there is no margin for error when they face Huddersfield Giants at Warrington on Thursday evening.

“We know we’ve not been firing on all cylinders,” he said.

“Some of the stuff that’s hurting us is our own doing - we are putting the pressure on ourselves and putting ourselves in bad situations when we are probably in control of a game.

“We need to start picking up some wins; we’ve got nine games left and we can probably afford to lose one.

“It is going to be tough; we are still carrying some injuries and we’re a bit busted but we’ve got to try and go out there and take the pressure off ourselves and enjoy it.

“That’s usually the way results come.”

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Laura Collins