SOMETIMES in life, things work out differently than you would ever imagine.
For former Castleford Tigers chief executive Steve Gill, one of those moments will stick in his memory forever.
Prior to him becoming chief executive in 2013, Gill had done everything at The Jungle from ball boy to scoreboard operator, from assistant coach to scholarship manager.
And it was his time as the latter where he came across a certain Ryan Hall – then just a teenager with lots of promise.
Gill has referenced how Hall, one day, was brought into training on a weekend to potentially join the club’s scholarship before he signed for Leeds Rhinos where he went on to make almost 350 appearances.
“It goes back a long way, I was scholarship manager at the time,” Gill told League Express.
“My friend, Kevin McGuire, who was chief scout at the time brought a young lad called Ryan Hall in on a Saturday morning and for some reason he didn’t stay.
“I think Leeds got wind of it and the rest is history.”
During his time as CEO at Castleford, Gill oversaw an incredible rise as the club went from the bottom of Super League to the top in the space of just a few years.
In and amongst that success was the signing of a number of stars in their prime such as Ben Roberts, Junior Moors, Jesse Sene-Lefao and Luke Gale.
For Gill, being interested in a player almost always meant that they would sign for Castleford.
“I think if you wanted a player, we always went for them. I can’t think of any player that we went for that decided to go elsewhere,” Gill continued.
“We were very selective, we maybe didn’t get it always right but Daryl thought he could turn players around. He had watched a lot of videos of them. If Daryl wanted them he usually got them.”
The 63-year-old did confess that the club didn’t always get the new recruits right.
“We brought people in that were less individual but more of a team player which is how we looked at it to play week in and week out.
“Daryl was a real important person in that, we discussed a lot of players. We made a few of mistakes and you can never read what’s inside players’ heads.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but that’s life.”
