Zak Hardaker keen to prove himself with England
Zak Hardaker is desperate for the chance to return to Australia as an England player following a spell with Penrith Panthers.
The former Man of Steel finished the 2016 season on loan with the NRL club after losing his way at Leeds but is hoping a move to Castleford can help him win back his England jersey in time for the end-of-year World Cup down under.
Hardaker, who is on a season-long loan with the Tigers, will face his parent club in Thursday’s Betfred Super League derby at the Jungle hoping to maintain his impressive start to the season and help his new club go top of the table with a third win on the bounce.
Castleford Tigers' Zak Hardaker tries to break free from the Leigh Centurions' defence (Simon Cooper/PA)
“It’s been good,” he said. “We played a tough game against Leigh and that could have been a banana skin but we came out of that pretty good.
“We then got the week off and came up against a strong Warrington team who played very well the week before.
“We’ve started off pretty well but we can’t rest on our laurels. We need to keep going and we have a tough fixture this week so we need to carry on with that.”
Hardaker made 11 appearances for Penrith but did not get enough game time for the liking of England coach Wayne Bennett, who left him out of his Four Nations squad.
He suffered more disappointment when the proposed pre-season training camp in Dubai for which he was chosen was cancelled, but he was all smiles when he attended the first get-together of Bennett’s Elite Performance Squad in Manchester this week.
“It’s really good,” said Hardaker, who was England’s full-back for the Test series triumph over New Zealand in 2015. “I’ve been in and out of it for the last few years so to see some familiar faces is always good and to get away from the club and into a different environment is pretty good.
“This is what England have been missing. Sometimes you’re not used to the players you are playing with, especially round the back as a full-back, while different centres do different kinds of things too.
“We get familiarised with what people do, build up friendships and camaraderie around the year so hopefully it comes to fruition at the World Cup.
“I was disappointed when I didn’t get picked for the Four Nations and then the Dubai camp got cancelled but I was just excited to be in the frame.
“It gives me an extra added buzz throughout the season to try and achieve something at the end of the year with the World Cup.”
England will be hoping to bridge a gap of 45 years by winning the World Cup in December and Hardaker believes the victories of Wigan and Warrington in the recent World Club Series against their NRL counterparts can help.
“I went to the Wolves game and it was great to see Super League teams beating the Aussies,” he said. “When I was in Penrith, it was just all about Australia and England’s a bit of a downgrade, that’s how they see it.”
