Adam Milner proud of decade's service to Castleford Tigers - but desperate for major trophy win

Milner, who will celebrate his 29th birthday tomorrow, made his Tigers debut against Huddersfield Giants in July, 2010.

Originally a hooker but now established at loose-forward, the Stanley Rangers product made his 250th appearance for the club against Warrington Wolves three months ago.

“It is a good achievement,” he said of spending a decade at one club.

“The local club to me, it means a lot.

“I was a ball boy when Cas got relegated [following a defeat at Wakefield Trinity in 2006].

“I was on Wakefield’s scholarship at the time and if you had asked me then, never in a million years would I have thought I would be 10 years at Cas.

“It was only a couple of years after that I signed for Cas and a couple of years later I made my debut for them.

“I have to pinch myself a little bit, being in the position I am. I am fortunate and honoured to have played at such a great club and for such a long time.”

Already with 254 games for Tigers under his belt, Milner is under contract until the end of 2021 and could potentially add at least another century to his tally.

“I think looks might be quite deceiving,” he said.

“I am still quite baby-faced so it might be a surprise to a few people I am actually getting a testimonial.

“I have had a great time, but there’s plenty of life left in me yet.”

Milner played for Tigers at Wembley in 2014 and Old Trafford three years later, but the 2017 league leaders’ shield is his only major trophy.

Winning a major final is something he is desperate to achieve during his remaining time at Castleford.

He said: “As a club we have been talkiing about it for a few years, especially after Powelly [coach Daryl Powell] came in.

“That is his number one target, to win something at the club.

“Obviously we won the league, but we want one of the major trophies.

“I guess that is the aim for all 12 clubs in Super League next year, but it would cap off a great year for me personally - in my testimonial year - if we could go on to win something special.

“There’s a lot of hard work to be done to get into that position, but it would be great.”

Covid-19 has cast a shadow over rugby league since March and Milner is awaiting developments with the pandemic before finalising a list of testimonial events.

“It’s all a bit up in the air,” he admitted. “We’re just hoping things get back to normal and we can get that interaction with fans, which the players have missed.

“The game has not been the same, sport across the world is not the same without fans.

“Fans are keen and eager to get back as soon as we are out of these restrictions and hopefully we can celebrate a good year with them.”