'Sometimes good, sometimes absolutely awful': Castleford Tigers centre Jake Mamo delivers frank career verdict

The 28-year-old has a tendency to thrill and frustrate in equal measure, as Castleford Tigers discovered last season.

For the player himself, the trials and tribulations of 2022 were nothing new.

"I didn't play very well, unfortunately," Mamo told The Yorkshire Post at Castleford's media day.

"Why? I don't really know. I try play well and sometimes it just doesn't work out.

"Maybe it was coming in and trying to find my groove in a new team. I got knocked out a couple of times which didn't help. I was injured a little bit and just didn't end up getting picked for a couple of games.

"There were ups and downs. That's probably been my career, to be honest."

Mamo finished 2022 with 11 tries in 20 games – a return bettered only by Derrell Olpherts and Greg Eden – but the gap between good and bad was too vast for his liking.

When it came to the end-of-season review, Tigers boss Lee Radford did not have to say much.

"I already knew it myself," said Mamo.

"I think we should all be pretty self-aware. I've been around 10 years now so I know when I've been bad and when I've been good.

"Honesty can sometimes be a problem within a rugby league team but the more self-aware you are, the better you can assess where you're at and if and where you need to improve."

Improvement is not something Mamo is banking on at this stage of his career.

"Sometimes I can be good and sometimes I can be absolutely awful," added the Australian centre.

"I've had a reasonable career for 10 years – it hasn't been the best, hasn't been the worst.

"I don't think I'm going to get any better, to be honest. If I've spent 10 years trying to find a middle ground and still haven't found it, why is it going to happen now?

"There are very few people in every team that are consistent. The majority of players in the competition are up and down like me.

"What you see is what you're going to get – I'm going to try hard and sometimes I'll be terrible, sometimes I'll be great."

An all-action player, Mamo pushed the line at times in 2022, most notably when he kicked the ball out of the ground in an act of dissent when Hull KR visited Wheldon Road.

He is not about to change the way he plays after finding something that works for him.

"If I didn't have that high energy and passion, I probably wouldn't be here now," said Mamo.

"We're all a bit crazy in rugby league and blow up a bit at times.

"Things about the game frustrate me but I'm not allowed to talk about them because I'll probably get in trouble.

"In those incidents, those things frustrated me a lot. I'm not the first person to have shown that and won't be the last either.

"I think it's exciting for the fans as well. They don't want drones. Unfortunately, what they see from a lot of rugby league players are drones.

"It would probably benefit the game if we saw a bit more personality."

A product of the Newcastle Knights system, Mamo initially arrived in England as a Huddersfield Giants player in 2017.

He has enjoyed it so much that he plans to stay on beyond the end of his playing career as a British citizen.

"It feels like my first home," said Mamo.

"I'll hopefully have citizenship very soon. All being well, that will happen this year.

"I probably intend to spend my life here. Things always change but that will likely be the plan.

"I moved here when I was 22, made good friends, enjoy the lifestyle and am settled.

"It's a bit more relaxed playing here than in Australia, not that I could have continued playing rugby league in Australia – I probably would have faded out pretty quickly."

Mamo has faced challenges during his time in England, not least in the middle of last year when he had to go home to deal with a family matter.

As he prepares for a seventh season in Super League, the prospect of reaching a Grand Final is driving him on.

"I would really like it," said Mamo, a Challenge Cup winner with Warrington Wolves in 2019.

"I'm 28 now and don't know how many years I've got left. I don't think I'll play to 35 like some of these guys. That's very unlikely.

"I'd like to play at Old Trafford. I only went for the first time the other day to watch (Manchester) United v Reading.

"It would be cool to play there. It's more the experience that surrounds it; I'm not too bothered about legacy or anything.

"I like these people and I'm sure they'd enjoy it. I'd enjoy it with them."