Jordan Turner opens up on his future after retirement question

Castleford back Jordan Turner insists he isn’t thinking about retiring just yet as he targets a big year with the Tigers.

The 34-year-old was limited to just nine appearances in 2022 due to a shoulder injury. However, Turner made his comeback in their season opening defeat at Hull last week.

Turner is out of contract at the end of the season, but retirement hasn’t even come into his mind yet.

“I’m not thinking about that,” Turner said when asked whether this year could be his swansong.

“My first thoughts were that I spent a lot of time out of the game last year, almost 12 months, but my plan was always to come back. This year was to see where I’m at.

“My body is still feeling good, my shoulders are feeling good so I’ve got no plans to retire soon.

“I obviously know that my career isn’t going to go on forever and there will be a point in the not too distant future that I will be retiring but I don’t see it being within the next 12 months.”

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Jordan Turner hails former club St Helens

On Sunday, the Jamaica international will come up against his former club St Helens, who were crowned World Club champions last weekend after beating Penrith.

It didn’t come as a surprise to Turner that the Saints came out on top on Australian soil.

“We actually watched it at the ground,” Turner said. “We was cheering them on to win and I’ve got a couple of really good friends in that team. This isn’t meant to sound derogatory at all but I wasn’t impressed because I know how good St Helens are.

“I was having jibes with Kenny Edwards all week, he was saying they’d get beat by 40 but I was saying ‘just watch’. Everyone was writing them off but I know there are some players in that side who are world beaters.

“I wasn’t actually surprised by anything they did. I expected it to be close but they were by far the better team. They’ve done Super League and English rugby league a big justice.”

Castleford welcome St Helens to the Jungle on Sunday afternoon, live on Channel 4 (1pm).

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