Zak Hardaker is ready to take Super League by storm once more after rejecting the chance to stay in the NRL.
The Leeds and England full-back – the Man of Steel just over a year ago after leading his club to the treble – went ‘walkabout’ in 2016, ending the season on loan to Australian club Penrith Panthers.
Hardaker is keen to make his mark in Super League again after joining Castleford on a season-long loan and linking up with his old Featherstone boss Daryl Powell.
He said: “There were plenty of ups and downs in 2016, but that’s life I suppose. I had options to stay out there, I don’t think with Penrith but I think it might have been with Newcastle.
“It was something I’d achieved. It’s a tick in the box, I’ve done what I wanted to do. At this time, I wanted to be closer to home and I wanted to come back to Super League and give it another shot.”
It was during his spell in Sydney when Hardaker opened up about his personal issues, including the use of prescription drugs, which sent his life spiralling out of control.
He added: “There was a lot of speculation, some not-nice rumours, and I just wanted to put them to bed and say what exactly happened,
“Half the things were silly and some of them weren’t really nice at all. I’ve done that, moved on and it’s all good now.
“I’m living back with my mum but sorting my house out now and it’s another exciting chapter in my life.”
Hardaker, full-back in England’s Test series win over New Zealand in 2015, is also motivated by the chance to win back his international jersey after being dropped for the 2016 Four Nations Series.
He has been handed the number one shirt by Powell, despite competition from former Huddersfield and Hull KR full-back Greg Eden, but is not taking anything for granted.
Hardaker said: “I’m really full of myself sometimes but I am confident about the full-back role. We keep pushing each other and that’s what we want.
“Of course, if he feels someone else can play full-back a bit better or in a different way and he asks me to go on the wing, I’d say yes, fair enough.”
Castleford-born Eden, who has spent the last two years with Brisbane Broncos, had been lined up by Powell to replace Luke Dorn.
Hardaker’s availability changed things but he is happy to fight for the spot and has no qualms about playing on the wing.
Eden, who also had options to remain in the NRL, said: “I didn’t really know what Daryl was thinking, where he was going to play us.
“It’s good to have Zak in your team wherever any of us is going to be playing, with him being such a strong player.
“It’s good having that competition. I had it all last year as well at Brisbane with Darius Boyd and Jordan Kahu so it’s nothing new.
“We can both play other positions as well so we’ll just have to keep fighting it out and one of us will have to play somewhere else.
“I don’t know if people regard playing on the wing as a downgrade but it’s just as important. You’ve a lot of finishing off to do, especially at Cas with the way that they play, you’re going to be involved quite heavily.”
