Owen goes wild: They call teenage winger Richard Owen 'the Steve Irwin of Castleford' - and no wonder, writes Geoff Sweet.
Before each game the 17-year-old often looks after eight chicken, three ferrets and 18 pigeons, and then takes four hunting dogs out for a walk.
Owen, who made his Super League debut in Friday night's 28-16 defeat at Wigan, is one of the new kids on the block who will benefit from the no relegation rule this season.
Loose forward Joe Westerman, 18, has already made a big impression and the newly-promoted Tigers have every intention of blooding as many youngsters as possible.
Winger Owen said: "Without the threat of going down, the club is able to give guys like myself and Joe a chance to throw off our L-plates and see how much more we can learn at the highest level.
"It's a chance to really build a team that can compete for honours in the future without the risk of going down. Because of that there is a real buzz about the place and the hance for me to play alongside top grade men like Brent Shirwin and Ryan McGoldrick is just fantastic."
Intrepid Aussie wildlife expert Irwin died in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray barb. He remains an inspiration to young Owen, who likes nothing better than relaxing before big games by walking the dogs through the Yorkshire countryside.
Fabulous
Owen already has plans to become a gamekeeper once is career is over. But that's way ahead, and in the meantime Cas coach Terry Matterson is happy to give him a chance.
"When you come up it's often a case of being too far behind the eight-ball line in terms of players available and chances of staying put," said Matterson.
"But this year is different. We can't go down and that's fabulous for us. It meant I could keep 16 of the players who won us promotion and add five more faces to give us the balance between youth and experience.
"It gives me great pleasure to see local players like Joe and Richard emerge. And to give them games in Super League so we can build a competitive team.
"It will be difficult this season. If I've learned anything from 2005 it is to try and avoid some really big losing scorelines. That was debilitating at times and made for some hard times.
"I do believe we have a better defence now, so hopefully that won't happen and we can give a good account of ourselves."
Relegation has been cancelled this season while clubs prepare bids based on income, facilities and business prospects to enter a reformed Super League in 2009.
Comments