Super League

Former Castleford Tigers trialist makes code switch

by
Callum Walker
December 10, 2021

A former Castleford Tigers trialist has made a switch to rugby union.

Lloyd Wheeldon, who was on trial at the Jungle earlier in the year, is a serving soldier, but joined Doncaster Knights at the end of November.

The fly-half arrived from Scottish club Heriot’s Rugby where he played in the Super 6 competition.

“I’ve always been interested in being at Doncaster Knights as I know it’s a well-respected club,” Wheeldon told the Doncaster Free Press.

“And, being a Northern lad, it speaks volumes to play for them.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as a squad in the remainder of this season.”

A serving Lance Corporal in 3 Para, Wheeldon began his trial period with Castleford at the start of January and was involved in the start of the 2021 pre-season after being granted a temporary release from active service.

Wheeldon, in his mid-20s, has featured for the British Army’s Senior XV before joining Harlequins in 2019 and said at the time of joining the Tigers: “This is my eighth year in the army, I played army rugby union first-team, so I’ve always been a union-dominant player. I’ve played in high-end games like Army vs. Navy and obviously got poached for Harlequins from there.

“I’ve always wanted to try playing rugby league and I got quite friendly with Sean Long when he was down there. I got chatting to him about it and then put the feelers out there through my agent, and then an opportunity came up for a trial with Cas after Daryl (Powell) showed interest.”