Jordan Lane has reflected on a memorable fortnight both personally and professionally ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Castleford at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
Lane celebrated the birth of a baby daughter, Nova, with his partner last Monday, before enjoying an impressive personal display, scoring two tries in Saturday’s 48-16 victory over Salford.
The 24-year old added the cherry on top of a special week with the club confirming the in-form back-rower had penned a three-year contract extension with the club, keeping him with the Black & Whites until at least the end of the 2025 season.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to sign my extension – this is the club I want to stay at, and I’m growing as a player here so it was an easy decision,” he said.
“Coming into the last year of my deal, it’s been on the table for a while. We had a chat a few months ago about what the club wanted from me, and it was all done quite quickly.
“My progression has come from having so much game time over the last few years – that’s the best way to grow as a first-team player. I feel like I’m flourishing from being in the environment.
“Being in and out the team like I have been at points over the last few years can be frustrating, sometimes you play a good game and then you’re out the next week. But when I was dropped, I never sulked about it. I used it as an opportunity to try and prove a point to the coaches, and it drove me on more if anything.
“With the birth of my child last week, it’s been a great couple of weeks for me.”
Lane praised some of the current and former stars of Hull’s pack from his time at the club as a key influence in his development.
“Sika Manu, Mark Minichiello and Gareth Ellis had a big impact on me developing my game in my early years, and now we’ve got Andre Savelio and Manu Ma’u who I’m learning from – two of the best back-rowers in the league.”
And Lane admitted that while he has ambitions of performing on the international stage across the course of his new contract with the club, his focus remains on his club rugby.
“It’s something at the back of my mind, but the club comes first. At the moment, my focus is on proving that I’m not just a squad player and deserve to be in that starting thirteen every week, and putting my best foot forward for the team; if I do all those things right, hopefully selection comes later down the line.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash, Lane said: “Castleford is always a tough place to go, regardless of whether they’re in poor form or not.
“They’re struggling, but we know how much they’re going to want to get a result this weekend, especially against us.
“We’ve seen certain things we can exploit in Castleford’s game this weekend in our video sessions.”
And Lane insists there will be no room for sentiment as he prepares to go up against his former head coach and assistant in the form of Lee Radford and Andy Last.
“They’re the ones who give me my chance to make my first-team debut, and I’ll be forever grateful to them for that. But when we go there on Sunday, that’s all put to one side.”
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