Jacob Trueman
Jacob Trueman (born 16 February 1999) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off, scrum-half or fullback for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Jacob Trueman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Bradford, West Yorkshire, England | 16 February 1999||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 13 st 12 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Stand-off, Scrum-half, Fullback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 5 June 2020 |
He has represented England at international level. He has previously played for the Bradford Bulls in the Championship.
Background
Trueman was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Club career
Bradford Bulls
He is a product of the Bradford Bulls Academy and signed his first professional contract in January 2016 with them.[4] Trueman previously played for a local amateur side, West Bowling ARLFC.
He featured in round 13 of the 2016 Bradford Bulls season, against the Swinton Lions.
Castleford Tigers
In January 2017, Trueman was signed by the Castleford Tigers, joining the club on a two-year deal.[5][6] He made his Super League début on 4 June 2017 against St. Helens.[7][2] He scored a hat-trick in his second Castleford appearance against Wigan Warriors on 17 September.[8] At the end of the season, Trueman was named as the Tigers Academy Players' Player of the Year.[9] In December 2017, Trueman signed a new three-year contract with Castleford, with head coach Daryl Powell labelling him "the most promising half-back in the English game".[10]
Trueman was assigned squad number 21 for 2018.[11] He was utilised in the fullback position for a period, although he made the majority of his appearances at halfback.[2] He performed consistently well throughout the season, cementing his place in the first team by appearing in all but 4 of Castleford's games.[2] Trueman's contributions were reflected in the end-of-season awards, as he was named as Castleford's Young Player of the Year and 2nd place Player of the Year.[12] He also went on to win the Super League Young Player Of The Year 2018.[13][14] In November, he signed a new four-year contract with the Tigers until the end of 2022.[15]
For the 2019 season, Trueman was given squad number 6, recognising his place in Castleford's first team.[16] Injuries to teammates meant that he wasn't able to form a consistent partnership with any other halfback, starting alongside Jordan Rankin, Paul McShane, Peter Mata'utia, Cory Aston and Jamie Ellis at different points throughout the season.[2] He scored his second hat-trick for Castleford against Hull F.C. on 5 September, to help the Tigers reach the play-offs.[17] He made 31 appearances, missing only 1 game for the Tigers, and scored 8 tries.[2] He finished as a runner-up for Castleford's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards and was once again nominated for Super League Young Player of the Year.[18][19]
Trueman was named Man of the Match for his performance against the Toronto Wolfpack in the opening round of the 2020 season.[20] His developing halfback combination with new Tigers signing Danny Richardson is widely lauded as an exciting and potentially long-term partnership for both club and country.[21][22] Castleford captain Michael Shenton shares this view ("It's exciting. A lot of teams have gone for Australian halves but we've gone for young British halves with plenty of talent.") and spoke very highly of Trueman: "He is a quiet person off the field but on the field we are trying to make him grow because he’s unequalled in talent for our team. He’s our best player."[22]
International career
In July 2018, he was selected in the England Knights Performance squad.[23]
He was selected in England 9s squad for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s.[24]
He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[25]
Statistics
Season | Team | App | T | G | DG | Pts |
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2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2017 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
2018 | 28 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | |
2019 | 31 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 33 | |
2020* | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
Totals | 70 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 81 |
(* denotes season still competing)
References
- "Jake Trueman Player Profile". Castleford Tigers.
- "Jacob Trueman – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019.
- "Jake Trueman - Player Stats". Love Rugby League.
- "Ethan Ryan and Joe Lumb join full-time ranks at Bradford Bulls". Telegraph & Argus. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020.
- "Jake Trueman: Castleford Tigers sign teenage Bradford Bulls half-back". BBC Sport. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- Bower, Aaron (25 January 2017). "Castleford sign former Bradford youngster Jacob Trueman". Total Rugby League. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018.
- "Super League: Castleford Tigers 16-12 St Helens". BBC Sport. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- "Super 8s: Wigan Warriors 20-38 Castleford Tigers". BBC Sport. 17 September 2017. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- "2017 Winners". Castleford Tigers. 17 September 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Jake Trueman: Castleford Tigers half-back signs three-year contract". BBC Sport. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "2018 Squad Numbers". Castleford Tigers. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "2018 Awards Winners". Castleford Tigers. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- Craven, Dave (8 October 2018). "Castleford Tigers' Jake Trueman lifts league's Young Player of Year Award as St Helens' Ben Barba captures Man of Steel". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- "Ben Barba: St Helens full-back wins 2018 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award". BBC Sport. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Jake Trueman: Castleford Tigers half-back signs new four-year deal". BBC Sport. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "2019 Squad Numbers Confirmed". Castleford Tigers. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Super League: Castleford Tigers beat Hull FC 44-12 to go fifth in table". BBC Sport. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Watts at the treble on awards night". Castleford Tigers. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Trueman nominated for Young Player of the Year". Castleford Tigers. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Trueman true star of Super League opener". Castleford Tigers. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- Gordon, James (13 February 2020). "Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson – the present and future for Castleford and England?". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- Darbyshire, Drew (19 April 2020). "Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson combination could be special, says Michael Shenton". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- Darbyshire, Drew (24 July 2018). "Ten new additions in England Knights squad". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- Walker, Gareth (16 October 2019). "Sam Tomkins eager to lift inaugural World 9s title with England Down Under". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- Heppenstall, Ross (14 October 2019). "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2019.