Clare dares to live again
CASTLEFORD winger James Clare faced an uncertain future when he was relegated with Leigh in the Million Pound Game last October.
The 26-year-old and many of his team-mates were contracted but defeat by Catalan Dragons meant all bets were off. Contracts became null and void and grown men cried.
It was another disaster for Clare after being at Bradford when they were liquidated in January 2017.
He joined Leigh on their Super League return, only to sustain a serious knee injury pre-season which wrecked his campaign before he returned in the dreaded Qualifiers.
Clare said: “The atmosphere before the Million Pound Game was surreal – everybody was just too nervous to talk. But afterwards was far worse. A couple of lads were
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crying, which you don’t see very often, and a lot of others just sat there with heads in hands.
“It was heart-wrenching and I felt sorry for the Aussie players who had given up everything to move to the other side of the world and lost their contracts.
“Personally it was another blow after everything I went through at Bradford, when I seriously considered quitting.
“When the Bulls were in administration we didn’t have insurance to even train. The amount of emotional stress you go through takes its toll physically.”
Then Clare bumped into Castleford’s chief executive Steve Gill
and a return to the club where it all began was mooted. He duly signed a one-year deal for this season with Daryl Powell’s side. Castleford head to Wakefield tonight on the back of a 25-24 win over Leeds last Friday, their fourth straight win. “Castleford is my hometown club and I remember coming here as a kid when my dad was club mascot Tigerman,” said Clare. “I watched from the outside as a supporter last season as they finished 10 points clear at the top of Super League and reached their first Grand Final. “To now be among those players who feel Castleford can do something special this year is simply fantastic. I’m pinching myself.” Clare is hopeful of another deal but no longer counts his chickens, saying: “I’m studying to be a teaching assistant because rugby league can be an uncertain career, as I’ve found out.”