Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell has expressed his disappointment that star half-back Luke Gale couldn’t his force his way into the England side for this year’s Test series against New Zealand.
Gale starred for the Tigers during his debut season with the club, ultimately earning selection to Steve McNamara’s squad for the series, although he didn’t feature in any of the four games.
And Powell, speaking to the Pontefract and Castleford Express, says he believed Gale deserved to get an opportunity to feature, saying he was the “first pick” in his eyes.
“I was disappointed for Luke Gale that he didn’t get in with England,” Powell said.
“I thought he deserved to play, he had an outstanding season. I suppose the difficulty was that I don’t know how much of that Steve McNamara saw so he’d be relying on some of the guys that were over here.
“Obviously they got the job done so you can’t argue too much with that final game, but for me I thought he was the first pick.”
However, Powell did admit that the motivation Gale will get from not being picked should stand him in great stead for another go at international selection in 2016.
“Galey can come back in and use it as motivation towards next season and starting the season off as he finished the last one, being as superb as he was then.
