Jake Mamo: Castleford Tigers sign star centre from Super League rivals Warrington Wolves
The deal was announced less than 24 hours after Mamo produced a man of the match performance for Warrington Wolves against Wigan Warriors on Wednesday, when a hat-trick took his tally of tries for the current campaign to 11.
Mamo, 27, is in his third season with Warrington, having previously spent two years with Huddersfield Giants.
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Hide AdHe began his career with Newcastle Knights from in 2014-2016, making 29 NRL appearanes.
Tigers have signed Mamo as a centre, in what is effectively a swap for Peter Mata’utia who will join Warrington next year, but he can also play at full-back or on a wing.
“I am really excited to get it done and I am happy to be coming to a club like Cas,” Mamo said of his impending move.
“I’ve played against them for the last five years and whenever you go there, even though the crowd is against you, it is always a great atmosphere.
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Hide Ad“I am pretty excited to be playing there with the crowd on my side for once.
“It is an exciting place to be at, a club with such good history.”
He added: “It is a great stadium and I love playing there.
“I am going to bring more of what I have been showing this year and I will be ready to kick off the start of 2022 with a bang.”
Mamo reckons settling in at centre has been behind his impressive form this year.
“I have bounced around different positions,” he recalled.
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Hide Ad“Even when I was at Huddersfield I played at centre, wing and full-back.
“For four years now, I have played in various positions and it can be a bit of a curse sometimes that you are kind of adjustable.
“I think what was needed for me was to cement a spot and play in the centre consistently.
“That consistency in that position has allowed me to learn the role and I am getting better with each game.”
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Hide AdMamo is a key piece in incoming Tigers coach Lee Radford’s team building jigsaw.
Radford will step in when current boss Daryl Powell moves to Warrington at the end of this season.
Mamo said: “It is always an exciting time for a club when a new coach comes in.
“It puts all of the players on notice and you have to put your best foot forward.
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Hide Ad“You usually see coaches in the first couple of years get a lot out of the players so it should be exciting.
“There’s obviously some really good players at Cas who I have played against for a while now and I know a few of them so I am sure I will enjoy my time there.”
Reflecting on his spell with the Cheshire club, Mamo said: “The fans of Warrington have been good to me and I’ve got good friends here so it is sad leaving, but also there is a chance we can do something good this year.
“I am enjoying it at the moment and we are doing pretty well so it would be really good to end the year with a bang.”
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Hide AdRadford said he is “over the moon” at the prospect of Mamo playing for Tigers in 2022.
“Jake is a very athletic rugby player and he plays with a smile on his face,” Radford said.
“The more I looked into his background, the more good things I heard about him.
“He is certainly going to give us strength on that edge going into 2022.”
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Hide AdHe went on: “The fact he can cover full-back and wing is great, but I think he is a strike centre.
“He ticks a lot of boxes in the athleticism department.
“He has speed - and you can’t coach that -and he has it in abundance.
“I’m sure we can try to put hi in as much space as we possibly can.”
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