Martin Aspinwall loving life with Barrow Raiders
Veteran forward Martin Aspinwall says he is loving life at Barrow and still has a few years left in the tank – event at the age of 36.
The former Wigan, Huddersfield, Castleford, Hull and Leigh man has made 62 appearances for the Raiders since joining in 2016, helping them to promotion to the Championship last season.
Since going up, Barrow have held their own, securing a notable draw against Toronto Wolfpack and a win over Leigh, earning 11 points in 14 games to put them firmly in mid-table.
Speaking after the last gasp draw at bottom club Swinton on Sunday, Aspinwall said: “I love it here.
“It’s my third season now, I dropped down a division and now we’ve come up, we’ve done well.
“I moved up here, got a job, kind of embraced it all, embraced all the history of the club and the coach Paul Crarey has been great with me and my family and made me feel really welcome.
“I was at Leigh for three years and I just didn’t have enough game time, every time I got a good run, I got injured and I didn’t feel appreciated or valued, but here I love it.
“I just want to keep playing. I’ve got another year after this year, I’ll be 37, and I just want to keep playing.
“I’m enjoying it even though it’s part time, the money’s not top money, but it’s not all about that, it’s about enjoying rugby and wanting to play and be part of a good team.
“I’m 36 now and I know I’m not going to be around forever, it could be over in a year or two.”
Barrow open the Summer Bash this weekend with a game against Sheffield on Saturday (3pm), where a win would put them seven points clear of the Eagles, who currently sit in 10th place in the table, two points above the relegation zone.
Aspinwall added: “In April, we had all the full time teams, we had Toulouse, Toronto, Featherstone and we just wanted to get through that, we didn’t get any wins but we competed and got through it.
“After that we had Batley, Dewsbury, Swinton, Rochdale, Sheffield all teams around us so to win against teams around us is good, we’ve got five out of six points.
“It’s a real dog fight and I don’t know what’s happening with the structure, no one knows, but we just want to be third from bottom as long as we don’t get relegated.”