Castleford Tigers chief executive Steve Gill has revealed that he will be continuing in his role for a further 12 months.
Gill had initially only signed up to the job for 2013, and there were rumours that he might departing the club. But he revealed last week that he will be staying on for the upcoming season.
In an emotional interview, Gill also talked about the strain the day-to-day tasks of running the club have had on his life, which has led to him suffering from depression.
He said: “I wouldn’t like to go through the last ten months again. There were good days and bad days, but it led to me becoming depressed. I spoke to Colin Bland at Sporting Chance who works with a lot of Super League players and we had a good chat. He told me where I was and where I needed to be.
“I’ve worked with this before with certain people, so I knew myself what was happening. I find talking about it a lot easier now – I tried to bottle it up for weeks, but it wasn’t doing any good for my family.
“Initially I said I’d just take the job for 12 months and see what would happen. I was thrown into the firing line with the Rangi (Chase) situation and Sky, who at times crucified us, but there were lots of highlights in between and that’s what keeps you going.
“It’s a bit like a golfer – you hit hundreds of bad balls but the one you hit sweet keeps you going. A friend of mine said, “You need three bones to be a CEO: a wish bone, a back bone and, most importantly, a funny bone.”
“I couldn’t have continued the way I was for much longer; I’ve been completely drained and I wasn’t looking after myself. However, I was quick to recognise it and I’m now having therapy to help me through it.
“I’ve committed for another 12 months; there are a couple of things I’ve started which I want to see through. I have to thank the staff at Castleford, including Mark (Grattan), Richard (Wright) and Daryl (Powell) who all knew what was going on and have been great.
“I sent a letter to the Board who thanked me for my honesty and all supported me. Hopefully we get more ups than downs in 2014, and I’m prepared to give it lock, stock and barrel again this year.”
