'Not good enough': No storybook ending for Castleford Tigers centre Jordan Turner despite signing off with try

The 34-year-old will bring the curtain down on his three-year spell with the Tigers at the end of the campaign after accepting a player-coach role at hometown club Oldham.

Turner signed off at Wheldon Road with the last try in the closing stages of a vital victory over Hull FC that takes Castleford to the brink of Super League survival.

It had the feel of a storybook ending in front of a jubilant Wheldon Road End but that is not a view shared by the player himself.

"It doesn't really," said Turner. "I'm really disappointed with how this season has gone.

"I had high hopes at the start of the year that we were going to push for the play-offs and do something a bit special so to finish like this battling for survival is not how I wanted my last year at Cas to go.

"I'm glad we got the win to move a step closer to safety. My main aim at the back end of the year has been to leave this club still in Super League.

"I'm happy about that but I'm not happy with the way the year has gone."

Castleford fell agonisingly short of a play-off place on the final day of last season but the writing was on the wall in the early part of 2023.

From the Joe Westerman sex scandal to Jake Mamo's sudden departure and the loss of Lee Radford in between, it was an inauspicious start the Tigers failed to recover from.

"There's a lot really," added Turner on the root of Castleford's issues. "When you get an accumulation of things that happen over a long period of time at a club, all of a sudden you find yourselves in a bad spot.

"Some of those things can be helped, some can't but we've found ourselves in a difficult spot.

"I wouldn't lay all the blame on the players – I think it's been a combination of everything – but we take the field and haven't produced.

"This year hasn't been good enough."

The Tigers hold a four-point advantage over Wakefield Trinity with two rounds remaining but there was nothing to separate the relegation rivals this time last month.

After holding their nerve at Belle Vue to take a big step towards safety, Castleford are virtually there following Friday's 29-12 win against Hull.

"It has been stressful but if you let it get to you, that's when it eats you up and you end up getting relegated," said Turner. "You've just got to keep turning up and trying as hard as you can.

"Sometimes it's been hard. We've copped an awful lot of stick this year, especially us older blokes – some warranted, some not.

"You've got to be a man and front up. It's a tough sport, probably the most demanding sport. You don't get paid an awful lot but you've got to get out there and try as hard as you can."

Turner is leaving Wheldon Road for a club close to his heart but his departure will be tinged with sadness.

"My first year here was one of the most special years of my career," he said on the 2021 campaign, which featured a trip to Wembley.

"There are some blokes here I'm really close to and I'll be sad to leave them.

"People can say what they want about Cas but I've made some good memories here and there are a lot of people I've got a lot of respect for. I'll miss the people.

"But everyone's time at a club comes to an end. Hopefully the club can go on to good things. This club belongs in Super League."