'Love of the game' keeps ex-Leeds Rhinos & Castleford Tigers star Brett Ferres going as he enters 22nd season
A Grand Final winner with Leeds Rhinos nine years ago, Brett Ferres is still going strong as he enters his 22nd season in the professional game.
Having started at Bradford Bulls in 2005, Ferres, now 39, played for every Betfred Super League club in West Yorkshire - Wakefield Trinity, Castleford Tigers, Huddersfield Giants and Rhinos - before spells at Featherstone Rovers and Doncaster and then, last year, a move to new club Goole Vikings where he remains this season.
The new Betfred Championship began this weekend and the former England back-rower insisted he’s just as excited as ever at the prospect. “I’ve lost count,” he admitted of how long he has been in the game. But he stressed: “I love it.
“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t. I still think I’ve got a bit to offer in the game, I still enjoy playing and I still play 80 minutes every week. I was relatively injury-free last year, I didn’t miss a game through injury, so they asked me to go round again and I am happy to do it.”
Ferres has a way to go to match Dewsbury Rams’ Paul Sykes who has committed to another season at 44, but is a step ahead of ex-Leeds teammate Ryan Hall, a mere whippersnapper of 38. “I’ll take it year by year and see where we’re at,” Ferres said of his playing future.
“I probably wasn’t far off thinking I was going to jack it in a few years ago, but some really good opportunities popped up and I wanted to explore that. The Goole one was really exciting, it brings a lot of good feelings towards the game and gets your love back for different areas of the game.”
Now part-time, Ferres has ambitions to stay in the sport when his playing days are over. “I do want to coach,” he confirmed. “I think that’s why it was important for me as a player to play in all the different leagues and environments and try some different things.
“I’ve seen a lot of coaches go from being a full-time player to dropping into part-time and maybe having trouble adjusting and adapting. I’ve been very fortunate to have been in Championship clubs and a League One outfit and now we’ll see how the new system goes.”
Goole finished seventh in League One last year, winning eight of their 18 games. They kick off the new season away to Keighley Cougars this afternoon(Sunday) and Ferres insisted: “It’s exciting. We’ve got a lot of firsts out of the way now and hopefully we can start building and get some consistency in some different areas.
“We’ve got a settled squad now and Scott [Taylor, Goole’s coach] has had some time to assemble a squad he wants. The club’s moving really well off the field, the new stand’s developing well and it all seems to be on the rise. Hopefully now we can get into the new system - with the Championship and League One merging - and have a good crack at that.”