Netherton ready to face former club

Castleford hooker Kirk Netherton is looking forward to meeting up with his former team mates when the Tigers face Hull KR at the weekend.

The Hull-born Netherton has represented both of the Humberside giants but is especially keen to put one over on Rovers – he grew up supporting Hull FC.

“Yes I was a fan of the ‘Black and Whites’ as a boy, so it was obviously a good move for me to join their Academy to start my professional career,” said Kirk.

However having been released by Hull, Kirk moved to Doncaster and then after being injured he had a short spell out of the game. He was to find himself back in Hull and playing rugby league, but this time at Rovers where he was to make his Super League breakthrough.

“I enjoyed my time with Rovers and I still have some good mates at the club in such as Scott Murrell and Ben Cockayne. And my cousin Jason Netherton is also in their squad. But there will be no divided loyalties, for 80 minutes they are opponents not mates and we need to get the win.

“Living in Hull and having friends at the club, I know that Rovers were upset to be nilled last week and they are determined to bounce back on Saturday.

“Our own performance wasn’t as good as it should have been over at Bradford, we were a bit soft in some areas, but we all believe that we can react in the right way. We need to be tougher down the middle and get back to the form of our opening games, but with both sides still hurting from last weeks outings it should be a tremendous game at the Jungle.”