Kevin Locke has said he would be open to staying with Wakefield regardless of the division they are in next year, as he looks to rebuild his career with the Super League strugglers.
A World Cup winner with New Zealand in 2008, the full-back has signed for Wakefield initially until the end of the season after securing his release from an unhappy stint with Salford Red Devils, where he made 13 appearances after being heralded as a major signing following his arrival from the NRL in May 2014.
Locke and Wakefield are now looking to reignite their season together, with the Wildcats bottom of the table and certain to be in the middle eight when Super League splits this month. Yet Locke insisted he has been overwhelmed by the welcome he has had at the club following an acrimonious split from Salford and would not rule out staying beyond the end of the season – even if the Wildcats are relegated.
“I was talking about it the other night; I’m open to all options,” he said. “I’ve only been here a week and the welcome I’ve had has just been phenomenal. Me and my partner love it up here; the scenery is great and it’s a nice town.
“Everyone’s made me feel so welcome, and I won’t commit on anything yet. If I end up here next year so be it – I wouldn’t say no.
“Wakefield wouldn’t have to be in Super League for me to consider it, but I’m not thinking about that because I know we’ll stay up. We’ll fix those minor things we’re loose on, and we’ll be a team that poses a real good threat in the middle eight.”
Locke will not play for Wakefield on Sunday as he builds his way back to full fitness following an injury-hit spell with Salford, and after impressing during the win against Hull FC on his debut, he spoke positively of the spirit among a group who ended a 16-match losing run with that victory on Wednesday.
“I love it here. I felt welcome the day I stepped into the Wildcats; everyone has made me feel welcome, which is really good. I’m really happy here, I’ve found somewhere where I want to be and somewhere where I want to play footy – it’s all about being happy. That’s all I focus on; if I’m happy then everything else takes care of itself.”
He added: “The environment I’m in here has a good culture about it. You’ve got Salford that have their culture, but having experienced that and come into here it’s just completely different. It’s a good change for me; people have their own perspective on things, and mine is that I’m really enjoying being here at the Wildcats.”
With Locke’s current and former sides in the bottom four, it seems likely that he will get the chance to face his former club in the middle eight. “I won’t get too excited,” he said. “They may target me – like try to bomb it up in the air and smash me – but they are the kind of things I love. It may not be like that, but if I just play my own game, I know that I’ll run rings around them. It’s just about working together as a team and I’ll be the one smiling at the end of that game.”
Adam Pearson, the Hull owner, has thrown his support behind the coach, Lee Radford, but has warned the club’s players that he is expecting a response this weekend after their shock defeat.
Hull joined Wakefield in the bottom four after a third straight league defeat and, before the rematch between the sides, Pearson says he wants to see the squad hit back as their futures at the club hang in the balance. “If the players don’t perform, ultimately they won’t play at the club,” he said.
“Some of them have got good contracts, some have got long contracts. But most haven’t and if we don’t see an improvement then obviously the squad has to change. The coach is working incredibly hard to put that right.
“We needed to win that match at Wakefield and we didn’t and questions are being asked, but not of Lee; they’re being asked of myself, by myself and of the players and I need to see a response from the players.”
Meanwhile, Hull KR have made the former Leeds centre Thomas Minns their first signing for 2016. The 20-year-old joined Featherstone this season after spending last year on loan from Leeds to London Broncos. He was expected to return to Headingley at the end of the campaign but he has signed a three-year deal and he will link up with Leeds’s Jamie Peacock, who will become Rovers’ general manager at the end of the season.
