Castleford Tigers have confirmed that halfback Callum McLelland has agreed with the club an early termination of his contract.
McLelland (pictured above, while a Leeds player), who began playing Rugby League as a youngster with the Lock Lane club, was a Castleford junior and he was a member of the 2017 Academy squad which reached the Grand Final that year.
Having Scottish heritage, he was then targeted by the Scottish Rugby Union prior to making a senior appearance for Castleford before returning to Rugby League with Leeds Rhinos in 2019.
In three seasons he was restricted by injury to making only thirteen Super League appearances, scoring one try in three seasons.
He returned to his hometown club ahead of the 2022 campaign eager to make an impact despite a patella tendon injury suffered during his time at the Rhinos.
Unfortunately, despite his and the club medical staff’s best efforts to return him to full fitness, he has been unable to recover sufficiently to play for the Tigers’ first team.
After a recent setback on his road to recovery, McLelland will now start a new venture outside of Rugby League and he has thanked everyone involved with the Tigers for their backing during a difficult period.
“I’m gutted I haven’t been able to play a game in the two years I’ve had here,” he said.
“I have been doing everything I can to get fit and to get back playing but unfortunately, my injuries haven’t allowed me to. The club have been great with me since I arrived, and I can’t thank the performance and medical staff enough, especially Matty (Crowther). I’m hoping the lads can finish this season strong and I wish them all the best.”
Castleford coach Andy Last has seen McLelland’s efforts to get back on the field first-hand over the past couple of years and provided his good wishes for the future.
“We are really disappointed that we couldn’t get Callum in a position to perform for Castleford,” said Last.
“Despite the best efforts of the performance team and medical team and Callum’s hard work, unfortunately we have come to an amicable agreement that it would be in both parties’ best interests to go our separate ways.
“We wish Callum the best of luck in his future career plans.”
