Ryan Hampshire finds new Super League club

Josh McAllister
Ryan Hampshire

Ryan Hampshire has joined Castleford Tigers on a one-year deal.

The 27-year-old returns to The Mend-A-Hose Jungle after first representing the Tigers during a year loan spell during the 2016 season.

Hampshire left Wakefield at the end of 2021 due to the expiration of his contract. He has been without a club since.

The full-back or half-back began his career at Wigan and has since also featured for Leigh. He will now link up with Castleford for the 2022 campaign.

Ryan Hampshire: ‘I just want to be competitive and ready to go’

“The club has changed a lot since I was first here back in 2016. It is all different around the place and I am looking forward to seeing how it goes.

“The people at the club are all good people. I struggled to get in the side at the start in my first spell but managed to get a good number of games near the end and had a really enjoyable year.”

“Me and Lee (Radford) have had a chat and he’s said he is going to build me up by getting involved in training over the next few weeks. There is a lot of competition for places but I can play full-back or in the halves, so I will be able to provide quite a few options.

“I just want to be competitive and ready to go. The lads have been really welcoming and it is good to see some faces that I haven’t seen for a while. I’ve only had a couple of sessions with them, and it has been good to get back into it.

“I’m hoping to give Radders a lot of options whether that be at full-back or in the halves. I’m going to work hard to cement a spot in one of those places.

“I can help the team across plenty of positions but hopefully I will be able to get a run at a certain position so I can develop some more momentum and form.”

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Head coach Lee Radford on latest recruit

Lee Radford added: “I’m really pleased to be bringing Rocky in. At the moment we’re obviously a bit light in a couple of positions and he can play and deliver good performances for us.

“He’s kept himself in great shape, but we probably just need to put him through some sessions and get him hardened over the next few weeks.”

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