Former NRL winger Carney eyes England spot

Former Canberra and Sydney Roosters winger Justin Carney has declared his interest in playing international rugby league for England.

Blockbusting former NRL winger Justin Carney is set to turn his back on Australia, declaring he wants to play for England.

The 27-year-old former Canberra and Sydney Roosters player, who is known as the "tank on the flank" because of his destructive running, is playing for Castleford in his third season in Super League and will qualify on residential grounds later this year.

"I have thought about this in passing because I've been asked the question before by family and yes I would (play for England)," Carney told tigersTV.

"Now to some people that sounds totally ridiculous but to me this is my home now and I feel really at home at Cas.

"It's a chance to play international footy which I've never done before and I'll take any chance to do that."

Carney, who was born in the country NSW town of Dubbo, has previously said he was "down and out" before he resurrected his career in England and says his debut at Warrington in the opening match of the 2013 season was his most memorable.

"It was a new start for me, everything went up from there," he said.

"Before then it was a pretty dark time. I had to leave home, I got out of my comfort zone and moved to the other side of the world.

"It was a big relief in that first game not to have so much pressure on me. I kind of made a fresh start, everything kind of started again from there."

Despite missing 25 matches so far for his club through injury and suspension, Carney has a phenomenal scoring rate, with 48 tries in 51 Super League appearances.

He signed a new five-year contract with the Tigers last year and was in the team that lost to Leeds in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.


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Source: AAP


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