Ryan Hampshire insists he hopes he has proven to Wakefield Trinity that he is worth more than the deal put to him earlier this season by his hometown club, as another of his out-of-contract team-mates is set to stay with the club in 2020.
Hampshire scored twice on Friday as Wakefield beat London 19-10 to secure survival and a place in the top-flight for 2020. However, with the 24-year-old yet to agree terms on a new contract, he is effectively one of the hottest out-of-contract players on the open market.
He admits that previous talks over an extension broke down, but he believes he has been undervalued.
Hampshire said: ”I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it should have been sorted a long time ago. It’s pretty poor from my side and we’ll see what happens with my future, but this club means so much to me.
“But I’ll be honest. I just feel that in the last few weeks, being the top try-scorer, making the most carries, playing three different positions, I just felt I was worth a little bit more. We’re all pieces of meat in this game and we’ve got to do the best we can for ourselves. Hopefully it all gets sorted.”
Meanwhile, Hampshire’s Wakefield team-mate Danny Kirmond is set to remain with the club in 2020, League Express can reveal.
The veteran forward’s contract expires in November but he will be retained by the club in a capacity which will see him still registered as a player, but he will be primarily in charge of Trinity’s reserve side moving forward.
Any new deal would see Kirmond enter a ninth season with Wakefield. Mark Applegarth has looked after Trinity’s reserve side this year, but with a formal competition launched next year, Kirmond will become head coach to allow the well-regarded Applegarth to focus on his role as the club’s head of youth development.
Hampshire also admitted to being emotional on Friday night after helping the club he supported as a boy maintain its status as a Super League club.
He said: I felt like crying at the end. It’s such a relief coming from around here; it’s unbelievable to win.
“It means a lot to me. There was no way we were losing this game in my mind, I was willing to do whatever it took to keep the club in Super League.”
