'By far worst year of career': Castleford Tigers full-back Niall Evalds fired up for big 2023

Evalds missed 19 games due to bicep and shoulder injuries, forcing Tigers boss Lee Radford to go through as many as six full-backs.

Radford fielded his first-choice spine only once in round one when Evalds, Jake Trueman, Danny Richardson and Paul McShane took to the field against Salford Red Devils.

By the end, McShane was the last man standing as a Castleford outfit also missing Ryan Hampshire and Gareth O'Brien fell agonisingly short of a play-off place.

Watching from the sidelines was new ground for Evalds, a player who for so long had managed to evade serious injury issues.

"It was by far the worst year of my career," the former Salford full-back told The Yorkshire Post.

"I don't want to sound too negative but I haven't had a year like that before in my career.

"Two major injuries and two surgeries is not something you plan for at the beginning of a year."

Evalds was only two games into his comeback when he dislocated a shoulder in the home win over Warrington Wolves in July.

With only 10 games to show for all his hard work in 2022, Evalds is desperate to make up for lost time this season.

"The shoulder injury is the biggest one I've had," added Evalds, who made his England debut at the end of 2021.

"I've been very lucky in my career not to have any injuries until last season. It was the first year I'd missed games like that.

"The shoulder took a lot of work to come back from. There are good days and bad days with it but it feels really good. There should be no issues with it come the start of the season.

"I'm fully fit now and feel like I owe a lot to Cas and Radders to perform this year. Hopefully I can do that."

Evalds was left feeling helpless as Castleford lost five of their final seven games to miss out on the top six by just two points.

His recent injury struggles have given Evalds a greater appreciation of the good times.

"It's a tough road," he said.

"You're not with the team and are doing your rehab on your own. It can be a bit lonely at times.

"I was fortunate that the boys and my family gathered around me. It was just one of those years, a tough year.

"It was probably the most excited I'd been for a pre-season. Usually you dread them but I was really excited to get my hands on the ball again.

"It's what I love doing and what I'm best at. I can't wait to get back out there."

The Tigers defied their injury problems to take last season's race for the play-offs down to the final day, thanks in no small part to a hard-fought victory at Warrington.

Castleford made a habit of claiming gutsy wins and appeared to have outdone themselves against Leeds Rhinos with a makeshift half-back partnership, only to succumb to a late fightback by the home side.

Evalds saw enough from the sidelines to leave him encouraged heading into the 2023 campaign.

"To say we had a patched-up team every week with players playing different positions, I think you can excuse not looking so cohesive as a team,” he said.

"But I think what we saw was the never-say-die spirit and a commitment to work hard for each other.

"It wasn't pretty at times but we got ourselves in a position where we were two minutes from a play-off position.

"The determination from the boys was the big thing last year, particularly towards the back end.

"It's just getting us all out on the pitch. I want to be out there every single week this year.

"If we can keep our big players fit and our spine together, that will go a long way to us being successful."

The Tigers squad has undergone minor surgery during the off-season with Jacob Miller and Gareth Widdop among the arrivals.

Castleford's first objective is to make the play-offs, a feat last achieved under Daryl Powell in 2019.

Evalds is hoping silverware will follow after a hat-trick of painful defeats, losing a Grand Final and a Challenge Cup decider with Salford before suffering more Wembley heartbreak in his first season at Castleford.

"I lost three finals in three years so I might be the unlucky charm," he said with a smile.

"I don't see why we can't win something this year, but you can't think too long term. It's just a case of going week by week.

"The building blocks we're doing in pre-season will put us in good stead to play in those finals and be successful."