THE situation at Featherstone Rovers has been difficult for all concerned, with the Championship club now entering into administration.
It was an issue that unfolded throughout the 2025 campaign, with players leaving in their droves once the season had ended.
One of those players that managed to sort out his future was Caleb Aekins, who still had a year to run on his Featherstone contract after registering 44 tries in 82 appearances for Rovers in three seasons.
Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds about his ordeal, Aekins admitted he was ‘thankful’ that the Bulls and head coach Kurt Haggerty came calling.
“It has been quite a tough period so I’m lucky that my wife works as we’ve had to live off her wage and we also had some money back in New Zealand so we went back at the end of the year and kind of got by by using some of the money back there” Aekins told BBC Radio Leeds.
“It put a strain on everyone at the club, some more than others but we were quite fortunate to have a back up situation.
“I was kind of waiting and after the point where we can become free agents, my manager started working for me and I had a call from Kurt (Haggerty( not too long after that really.
“I did have another year with Featherstone on my contract but when everything went down, I asked for a release once I didn’t get paid and to be fair to them, they were quite good and let me go.
“Kurt gave me a call and told me he wanted me to come to the Bulls so it’s all worked out for me in a way. I went from a bad situation to an even better situation.”