McShane wants to keep getting better

• This article is taken from Castleford Tigers' official monthly magazine ROAR, which is available in our retail stores for just £2!

At the start of July, Castleford Tigers were thrilled to announce that Paul McShane had agreed to a three-year contract extension, keeping him at the Club until the end of the 2025 season.

McShane was already under contract for the 2022 campaign but has now signed an improved contract for next season and a three-year extension on top of it.

The 31-year-old has been an integral part of the Cas squad since his move to The Mend-A-Hose Jungle in 2015, being ever-present in the League Leaders’ Shield winning squad in 2017 and has consistently been a top performer for Daryl Powell’s team each season, which culminated in him being named the 2020 Steve Prescott Man of Steel last November.

A firm fan favourite and a vital part of the Fords’ squad, McShane has committed his long-term future to Castleford for the next four seasons, which will take him to over ten years of service as a Tigers player.

Speaking about the news to ROAR, a delighted Paul McShane said: “I’m over the moon to be staying for the next four years, I have to give credit to Cas for improving next year’s deal for me as well which is something they didn’t have to do and something that I’m grateful for.

“I want to keep getting better at everything I do, hopefully in the next four years, it sees me keep improving and getting better.

“I feel great, I feel as though the older I get, the smarter I’m getting both playing-wise and body-wise in looking after myself.

“The club has made me the player that I am now, the people involved, my kids only know me playing for Cas which is a big factor as well. I’ve probably turned from a boy to a man here.”

McShane has been proudly sponsored by Brebur since joining Castleford, and they will continue to sponsor him once again in 2022, we thank them for their fantastic ongoing support of the club.

The Tigers #9 has flourished under Daryl Powell who has continually sought to improve McShane’s game since joining the club and the Head Coach has long desired him getting into the England senior setup. McShane admits he has nothing but praise for Powell and said: “He has been someone who has been that driving force in me getting better, every year he is wanting me to keep improving and keep pushing.

“As a man, I’ve got so much respect for him, the time and effort that he has put into me, sometimes I needed a cuddle, sometimes I needed a rocket up me, he knew the right times to do those things.”

At the end of the 2021 season, one chapter of Castleford Tigers will close and a new one will begin when Lee Radford becomes Head Coach from the 2022 campaign. McShane remains focused on sending Daryl Powell out on a high note, before embarking on a new challenge under Radford.

“There is plenty of motivation to give the fellas who are moving on the send-off what I think they deserve.

“With a change, you can take it two ways you can think; ‘oh here we go, what is going to happen?’ but for me, it excites me.

“Do not get me wrong, the people that are leaving have played their part in my development, it is a bit scary, but it’s exciting as well and I can’t wait to get stuck in and hopefully Radders (Radford) and his coaching staff will give me a different style of play, and they will give me new things to add to my game which is something I’m looking forward to building.”

Paul believed his chance to represent his country had been and gone at the age of 31, however his performances over recent years have justly seen him get that nod finally against the Combined Nations All Stars during June.

“It’s something you set out to do as a kid, it is the pinnacle and I said throughout that week that it was something I had probably written off a couple of years ago. So, to get that chance, it was a bit overwhelming. I do not think my answer is ever going to change, to be able to put that shirt on was special, sure it would have been nice to do it earlier, but I got to do it – and I loved it.

“What made it even more special was having my kids there to watch it, it’s given me more incentive to push even harder to get in that World Cup squad come the end of the year.”

When asked if this achievement was up there for him with the Man of Steel honour, Macca answered in a typical ‘team first’ manner.

“You don’t really look for individual honours, you want to win stuff as a team.

It also meant he could play for the first time in around three years with former Tigers teammate Luke Gale, a very good friend of his.

“It was nice to have him back, we had built a good relationship here at Cas and we clicked straight away again. It was easy.”

The England opportunity also meant he got to work with some new faces including working under a different coach with Shaun Wane.

“It’s good sometimes to listen to a fresh voice, its simple what he expects of a player, and I think he set his stall out for what he wants from me as a player too, so I’ll be keeping that in mind so I can put my very best foot forward for a spot in the World Cup squad.

“I enjoyed working with Morgan Knowles, the kid is nonstop, and he plays well above his weight, and he is a player I enjoyed playing with. It was his debut as well so when he scored I kind of apologised at the end that we could not get the result, but he said to not worry about it. He has a bright future without a doubt.”

“Now I have had that taste, it’s about chasing the World Cup and the way Shaun speaks about wanting to win it – I want to be a part of that. There’s plenty of rounds left in this season to improve my game.”

Arguably the highlight of the match was seeing the Tigers #9 in full sprint mode against Jermain McGillvary, who is one of the fastest wingers in the competition and McShane stopped him from scoring a long-range try. Paul himself was a little shocked too!

“I kind of read it early, I saw the ball go down as our lads were going through with a play. Jerry is going for the ball and I kind of had the jump on him and halfway through it I thought ‘I have actually got him here’ so I went a bit harder to make sure!”

So shocked was Macca, he needed to check the speed he clocked in at with our Sports Scientist Calum Christopherson.

“Calum got the speeds up and I was only at 7.4 metres a second, so it wasn’t even that good! I cover that in training… but it felt fast!”

In a direct message to the Castleford supporters, McShane paid tribute to the fans, highlighting their backing of the team over the past 18 months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thank you, you guys sticking by us and supporting us no matter what definitely makes people want to stay and play for the club.”