BLAKE TAAFFE hasn’t played since Round One, but the Castleford Tigers star is already looking forward to returning to the field.
The former Canterbury Bulldogs fullback ruptured his ACL during Castleford’s loss to Wigan Warriors, but went on to play most of the game.
However, Taaffe was ruled out for the rest of the 2026 Super League campaign and now he is well into his rehabilitation.
“Everything’s going well,” Taaffe said. “We’re about three months in now, so I’m getting around a lot better.
‘I’m still a long road from where I need to be, but I’m just taking it day-by-day at the moment and hopefully I’m on the field running next week. So there are good signs and I’m looking forward to it.”
Recently, the Tigers have improved with two wins from two following an inconsistent start to the campaign.
And Taaffe believes the Tigers are turning the corner and explains the issues at the start of the year.
“How we started, we had a bit of adversity, I think and there were a few speed bumps along the way with a lot of injuries.
“We got our depth tested a lot. Some boys had to stand up, which was good, and we got to see those youngsters coming through.
“At the moment, I think now we’ve made a good few mid-year signings, who have come through and really helped out our squad, I think Carry (Ryan Carr, Castleford head coach) is doing a great job with the coaching and stuff.
“I still think we’re nowhere near where we should be, I think we’ve got a lot of room for improvement, but I think the biggest thing for us is kind of just believing in ourselves.
“Knowing that we can go out there against St Helens and put 30 points on them, because they’re the benchmark right now in second.
“I think it’s just about belief really, and believing that we can match the big teams.”