Luke Hooley opens up on move from Leeds Rhinos to Castleford Tigers, aims for 2024 and life at the Jungle

Hooley scored four tries in eight games for Rhinos last year after joining them from Batley Bulldogs. He was released at the end of the campaign, midway through a two-year contract, to sign for Tigers.

Hooley seemed to have dropped down Leeds’ pecking order when they recruited Australian Lachie Miller as first-choice full-back, with former number one Richie Myler expected to be his back-up. Ironically, the situation changed in November when Myler made a shock move to Betfred Championship side York Knights, leaving Rhinos without experienced cover, but Hooley stressed he is enjoying life at Castleford and has no regrets.

Outlining how the move came about, Hooley said: “I spoke with Rohan [Smith, Rhinos’ coach]. He was pretty open and honest with me. I was behind Richie Myler, who was still there at the time and they’d recruited Lachie Miller so I had dropped from second [choice] to third in a matter of weeks.

“I went on a run of games, I played the last seven, so I didn’t really want to take a step back. I was happy with second, I could have learned from people and pushed on. Rohan said to me ‘if another door’s open for you to stay full-time and secure your future for a couple more years, I am happy for you to go’. I explored that and we parted ways that way. There’s no bad blood there, I loved every minute. It was a mutual decision, we both just did what was best.”

Hooley had a tough Leeds debut in testing conditions away to Hull KR in March, but - after a spell on dual-registration at Batley - played well when he was recalled to the side following Myler’s season-ending injury in August. He reflected: “I thought I went all right. Obviously my debut set me back a while, longer than I expected, but I just got on with it. I went to Batley and worked hard and got the run of games at the end. I scored four tries, so I thought I did okay.”

Tigers’ new coach Craig Lingard was boss at Batley during both of Hooley’s spells there and the full-back admitted he has played a “massive part” in his career so far. “Not just for rugby reasons, he has done a lot for me personally,” Hooley said. “On the field, he gave me my first shot at Batley and we have clicked ever since. I didn’t come here [to Castleford] knowing I was going to be number one.

“When I signed, Gaz Widdop [now at Halifax Panthers] was still here and it was going to be a battle. I was happy to take that on. Things have fallen in my favour that way, but there’s still a lot of people here who can play full-back.

“I got the number one shirt, but I have played under Linners [Lingard] for quite a while now and numbers mean nothing to him. If you are not performing or playing your best, it’s someone else’s shirt. My objective this year is just to get a bit of consistency and have a good year.”

Hooley’s Rhinos debut was also his first game in Betfred Super League and he reckons he is a better player for top-level experience gained in 2023. He reflected: “My aim was 10 games and I played eight, but I got injured in pre-season last year. My aim this time was to come in and have a big pre-season and enjoy it and that’s what I’m doing.

“I’ve loved it here so far. It has been a tough pre-season; it wasn’t just one person coming into the group, it was quite a few new faces. There’s been a lot of change over in staff and players and the whole club in itself, so it has been pretty easy to settle in and it has been really good.”

Hooley has played in both Tigers’ pre-season matches, a win at Keighley Cougars and home draw with London Broncos and could feature again in Paul McShane’s testimonial against Huddersfield Giants at the Jungle on Sunday. He said: “I’m just getting to know how everyone else plays and learning combinations with Milky [Jacob Miller] and Rowan [Milnes] and Danny [Richardson] and getting to know what people like doing and what they don’t. We’re getting a bit of cohesion as a team and the games have gone well.”

After finishing second from bottom last year, Tigers have been tipped to struggle again in 2024, but Hooley insisted there’s a confident mood among the players. “A lot of people have written us off already,” he admitted. “Obviously it takes a while to get going if you turn over a few players and we’ve turned over a lot. But in the camp we’ve all got high hopes. We are not taking a step back and taking it as a trial year, we are going at it. We have had a big pre-season, a lot of running and a lot of hard work, so if we can get off to a flier and get a couple of wins under our belt to start with, people might change their minds.”