With three serious injuries and just one game in over two years, it’s no wonder Castleford’s Sosaia Feki felt his move to Super League was jinxed.
His luck was so rotten, the frustrated Tonga winger even considered packing in completely after his switch from Cronulla turned sour. But relieved Feki, 30, is now on the comeback trail and ready to make up for lost time. He safely negotiated a Castleford reserves game recently and has now joined neighbouring Championship club Featherstone on a two-week loan to build up fitness.
It hopefully puts an end to his horror run of injuries which left stricken Feki fearing the worst. He tore a calf in a friendly in January 2020 and didn’t make his competitive Cas debut until a Challenge Cup tie against Hull eight months later. However, the prolific Aucklander then suffered a knee injury after just 24 minutes and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
To make matters worse, Feki didn’t play at all last year after cruelly tearing his Achilles tendon in pre-season training. There were plenty of “down” days and, asked if he thought his move was jinxed, he admitted: “Yes, it felt like that at the time. I’ve never been injured like that before so it was a downfall for me. Just coming back and playing is great as I was thinking about retiring after my third injury.
“I’m just happy to be playing again. Now I'm focused on trying to get a few games in for Cas. I’ve been here two years and owe them. Hopefully I can get on the field for them. That’s the main thing.”
NRL Grand Final winner Feki, who could make his Featherstone debut at Dewsbury on Sunday, played one half against Salford’s reserves and scored a try. He recalled: “I was just excited to get back out there and get a few minutes into my legs as obviously I've been out two years.
“I mainly just wanted to get through the half without getting any more injuries. I was happy with how it went. I did 40 minutes and wanted to play more - but our conditioner came and took my GPS out so I knew that was it!”
With Bureta Faraimo, Greg Eden, Derrell Olpherts, James Clare and Jason Qareqare, competition for wing spots is tough at Tigers. But Feki, out of contract at the end of the season, conceded: “It’s good to head over to Fev as I definitely need time playing. In Super League you need to be up to the full 80 minutes and I don’t think I’m up to that standard at the moment. This will be good for me.”
