Delight for Tigers and Hardaker after his switch from Rhinos is made permanent

ENGLAND full-back Zak Hardaker last night signed a permanent deal which will keep him at Castleford Tigers until the end of the 2021 campaign.

Hardaker has been on loan from Leeds Rhinos since the start of this season.

Rhinos will receive a £150,000 transfer fee for the former Man of Steel, who was a member of their treble-winning squad two years ago,

Hardaker scored 67 tries in 155 games for Leeds before joining NRL side Penrith Panthers on loan 12 months ago.

He moved to Tigers, on longterm loan, in the closed season and was one of their try scorers in last Friday’s 23-12 win over Rhinos at Headingley which took Cas seven points clear at the top of Super League.

“I’m really thankful for the chance Daryl Powell and (chief executive) Steve Gill gave me to come to Castleford at the start of the season,” said Hardaker.

“To get the chance to stay here, I just jumped at the offer. I think we have a couple of exciting years ahead of us. It was an easy decision to stay here once I got the offer. The fans are amazing. It’s quite a close-knit community and the fans are so loyal.”

Powell was in charge at Featherstone Rovers when Hardaker joined them from Featherstone Lions in 2010.

“Signing Zak is a huge deal for the club,” Powell said. “For quality players and indeed international players to come to Castleford and then want to stay and commit their long-term futures here, I feel says a lot about us as a club.”