Dwain Chambers on trial with Castleford Tigers

After ten weeks of discussion Castleford Rugby League Football Club today announced an agreement which will see Britain's former leading sprinter - Dwain Chambers, undergo a four week trial with the Super League strugglers.

Speculation in the days leading to the shock announcement had suggested that the agreement was as much about gaining publicity as it was an opportunity for bringing great rugby league potential to the club.

This was understandable considering Chambers had quoted at the media conference this morning that he'd, "never even touched a rugby ball" in his life before Friday when he posed in a photo shoot.

Mick Robinson, (Football Manager) was keen to suggest that Dwain Chambers would not be paid for his rugby services during this trial period in which we would need to "earn a deal". This led to coach Terry Matterson suggesting that Dwain's task is a huge one and his chances of impressing enough during the four weeks are effectively slim although he did quote, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".

Meanwhile, Ryan McGoldrick (one of the senior rugby league players at The Jungle) remained relatively optimistic about Dwain's chance of success at the club and deemed the prospect as "exciting".

Chambers was brutally honest in saying that he doesn't know much about the game of rugby league other than from what he had watched few times on the tv. He stated that he just wants to have fun and be competing.

The 30 year old's solicitor, Nick Collins suggested that a strategy was in place to balance Dwain's rugbying activities with his wish to overturn his lifetime ban from the Olympics in which his goal is to compete at Beijing 2008 in August.

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Posted: 31 March 2008