Cas tie up season-long Ainscough deal

Wigan winger Shaun Ainscough has extended his loan deal with Castleford to the end of the season.

Ainscough, 20, spent the early part of the season on a dual-registration deal with Widnes, but made the step up to Super League following a season-ending injury to Tigers back Richard Owen.

Tigers coach Terry Matterson said: “This is very welcome news and I am grateful to Wigan for agreeing to extend Shaun’s loan period for the full season. He has gone well for us in his short time at the club and I’m hoping that he will be crossing the whitewash on a regular basis throughout the season.

“Shaun in effect is a direct replacement for Richie Owen who was ruled out for the season, but with Mike Cooper and Chris Tuson also on board, at least for the short term, and some of our own promising youngsters gaining valuable experience, we now have that extra depth to cover for injuries such as we have seen in recent weeks when we have had seen five of our front line players sidelined. This is especially the case with a tough Easter campaign just ahead of us.”

Shaun said: “I have enjoyed my short time with Castleford so far and now I’m looking forward to playing regularly in Super League and hopefully I can score a lot of tries for the Tigers.”

The Warriors have retained the right to recall Shaun, subject to giving 48 hours notice, and he will not be able to play for the Tigers in the Carnegie Challenge cup in order not to ‘cup tie’ him.

Ainscough scored a hat-trick on his debut for Castleford against Hull KR, and scored 17 tries in 12 games for Wigan last season.