Castleford Tigers star Foster adopts positive approach to Covid-19 shutdown

The versatile 26-year-old has not played since suffering a knee injury in Tigers’ one-point defeat at his former club, Leeds Rhinos, on April 28 last year.

The Super League round eight game at Salford Red Devils on March 20 was pencilled in for his possible return, but coronavirus led to all rugby league being suspended just four days before that.

“It was a little bit frustrating for myself,” Foster confirmed.

“I felt like I was getting up to a little bit of game speed and I was probably ready to play a few minutes.”

But he insisted: “I am looking at it positively and it has actually given me a little bit longer to get the knee right and sort of get myself on a level playing field with everyone else.

”With them being out of competition as well, by the time the competition restarts I shouldn’t be too far behind.”

The first product of the Wetherby Bulldogs community club to feature in Super League, Foster broke into Leeds’s first team in 2013, then had spells with London Broncos and Featherstone Rovers before a move to Bradford Bulls fell through when the club went bust.

Tigers snapped him up on trial in 2017 and he played 19 times that year, scoring their only try in the Grand Final loss to Rhinos.

“It has been a tough injury and one we have had to be careful with,” he said of his knee problem.

“It’s similar to the one Dom Crosby’s had at Leeds.

“Talking to a few of the Leeds lads, they’ve been saying they’ve had to be very cautious with him as well.”

Explaining the damage, Foster revealed: “It is cartilage damage behind the kneecap.

“Because of where it is there’s a lot of pressure on the bones rubbing together.

“They way the surgeons fix it is a microfracture where they drill into the cartilage and create a bleed so it creates like a synthetic cartilage, but it is an awfully long recovery process.”

Coach Daryl Powell is a big admirer of Foster, who is able to play centre or in the pack, but season-ending injuries in successive years have restricted his progress.

Foster missed the second half of the 2018 campaign with a foot problem and is now itching to get back on to the field.

“It has been a difficult two years,” he admitted. “I looked the other day and worked out I have only played maybe six games in the last two years.

“It is misfortune I have ended up having two unrelated injuries which have been season-ending, pretty early on.

“But, honestly, I am chomping at the bit at the moment and can’t wait to get back into things.

“I felt pretty good at training towards the last few weeks; it was probably just a bit of match speed I was lacking, but I felt that was going to come as the season went on and the more minutes I played.

“I am certainly looking forward to it coming back around and making up for lost time.”

Tigers’ players haven’t met up face to face since just after their win over champions St Helens on March 16.

Foster conceded: “It [lockdown] is really, really difficult and I have found that myself.

“But I think the injuries have put me in good stead to be able to deal with this.

“There’s been a lot of time I’ve spent in the house, pretty much in lockdown, unable to move very far, because of the injuries I have had in the last two years.

“It has not been anything new for me and I have certainly worked out a few ways of keeping my mind busy, learning different skills and taking up a few different hobbies which has kept me on the straight and narrow.”