JACQUES O’Neill has had a whirlwind 12 months.
From being a Castleford Tigers player to a Love Island star and back again, the Cumbrian is yet to feature for the West Yorkshire club since re-signing for the club back in late April.
With the Tigers down on troops – particularly in the hooker area with captain Paul McShane currently out with a broken arm – there has been hope amongst the Castleford faithful that O’Neill could pop his head through the door.
Now, Tigers boss Andy Last has given an update on whether or not the 24-year-old could make an appearance this season.
“There’s a chance that he might feature (in 2023),” Last said.
“Its taken him a little bit longer for him to get up to rugby speed than we might have anticipated and he’s got a little bit of a sore Achilles at the moment which is due to the running and the amount of work he’s had to do.
“I think Jacques was expecting it to be a little bit quicker than it actually has been. 18 months ago he was almost back to a playing level and then he made the decision to pursue other interests with Love Island. He’s then come back to wanting to try to finish the journey from a rugby point of view.
“He’s working hard, got his head down and doing what he needs to do so hopefully we’ll see Jacques participating from a playing point of view – it’s just a slow process.”
