RYAN CARR admits it has been hard for Castleford Tigers forward Jack Ashworth to get consistency following a lack of game time since joining the club ahead of this season.
Ashworth has played just six matches for the Tigers and has instead featured for their Reserves since his last senior game, the 50-10 defeat to his previous club Hull FC in late April.
Despite Castleford suffering from injuries to the forward pack, 30-year-old Ashworth has remained excluded from the line-up.
Coach Carr has acknowledged the difficulties endured by the prop, who has more than a century of Super League appearances under his belt with previous spells at St Helens and Huddersfield Giants, in his time at the OneBore Stadium so far.
“Jack is an experienced Super League player. He missed a lot of footy earlier on in the year through suspension and injury and then the head knock,” Carr said.
“It’s been hard for him to get some consistency. He did his calf in pre-season as well so missed a big chunk (of time) there.
“He plays his best footy when he’s playing regular Rugby League.”
Fellow pack men Joe Westerman (concussion issues) and Brad Singleton (undisclosed reasons) are still out indefinitely.
“Joe Westerman is out for twelve weeks and we’ve got to stick with that protocol,” said Carr.
“Brad Singleton is still working through some stuff in the background.”