Battling back from a nasty car accident, York rugby league prospect Sam Orange is on the brink of living his professional dream as he tells The Press’ York City Knights reporter Peter Martini.

IT might sound like a paradox, but a bad car crash at an important time last season might prove to help Sam Orange’s blossoming career more than hinder it.

Orange is the 18-year-old former York Acorn junior who scored a try on debut off the bench for Castleford Tigers’ first team when they beat his home-town club, York City Knights, 62-10 ten days ago in both sides’ first hit-out of the year.

He was also a playing substitute in the Cas academy side that beat the Knights 40-26 at Huntington Stadium in a return encounter between the clubs – the Paul Higgins Memorial Match – on Sunday.

He is a teenager who is being tipped for the top by many at the Super League club – and his desire to justify those predictions has been reinvigorated since that fateful day in June last year when he was behind the wheel.

“I was gutted and the worst thing was I hated losing my fitness,” he said of the accident, of which he remembers nothing, other than the fact his passenger luckily escaped unscathed.

“I’d worked so hard to get into good shape and that was paying off as I was just getting into good form when it happened.

“I was forced to sit in the stands and watch my team-mates put in some impressive performances.

“Some of those guys earned a call-up to the first team and I desperately wanted the opportunity to show Terry (Matterson, Cas head coach) and the guys what I could do for the rest of that season.

“I suppose injuries are the downside of professional sport. If I am to make it as a first-teamer it will happen to me again at some stage. Looking back it was good experience for me as it has made me even hungrier to make it.”

That hunger will be tested, either way, when Matterson decides whether to add the Dringhouses-based former Millthorpe School pupil to the club’s full-time ranks.

That decision is likely to come in May, when the teenager finishes studying for a national diploma in sport and exercise at York College.

However, he won’t have done his hopes any harm with his try-scoring display in last week’s Wheldon Road win.

“I was really excited ahead of the game,” he said of that first-team bow, even if it was only a friendly.

“Being a York lad playing against my hometown team, I was desperate to impress. I know most of the coaches there and some of the players. I couldn’t wait to get on.

“It was a lot quicker than under-18s or any level I’ve played before. I hadn’t played since the car crash, so it gave me a good indication of what I have to work with in terms of getting my match fitness up to speed.

“I felt I wasn’t out of place playing at the higher intensity and it has made me even hungrier to make sure I’m playing first-team regularly.”

He added: “It was a great feeling to get over for a try. I must give credit to Jordy (Jordan Thompson) as he put it on a plate for me.

“That said, Terry was telling us all week to push through in support and if I hadn’t have done that I wouldn’t have been in a position to score.”

Cas had started that match with a Super League-class line-up, and Orange admitted: “It was a little overwhelming at first.

“It was jaw-dropping stuff to look around seeing international-class players such as Rangi Chase, Richard Mathers and Danny Orr next to and opposite me.

“It was also reassuring. These guys have been there and done it. They know what it takes to play at that level on a regular basis and you know they will pick up on the half breaks and make the most out of them.”

Orange has the back-up plan of a sports science degree in the offing, but admits he would not turn down the chance to turn full-time.

“A playing career does not last a long time and for some of us it never kicks on from where I am now,” he said, displaying a maturity not always found in star-struck kids. “But although my education is important I couldn’t turn down going full-time. It would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Not many people get the opportunity to live their dream.”

Orange’s hopes have also been bolstered by spending pre-season among the full-time crew, although he is back with the reserves now.

“It was amazing to be training with the first team,” he said. “Full-time training is the lifestyle I want.

“It was an opportunity to impress Terry, and we all now know what being a professional rugby league player involves and what we will be committing to if lucky enough to get a contract.

“The outcome of the experience is that I’ve gone home and told my mum and family I will do whatever it takes to become a first-team player.

“I want that lifestyle. I want to live, eat and sleep rugby.”

To that end, the former Knights scholarship junior is to increase the amount of extra gym work he does at home – at the York RI gym to be precise.

“When I was training with the first team, I was going there two or three times a week.

“Now I’m back training part-time I will up that to three to four times a week,” he said.

“Tilly (conditioner Kevin Till) has given me a specific programme to work with and the results have been immense.”

As for his mum, Orange says she has been a big influence on his career and his life in general.

A single mother, Sue has brought up Orange, his twin sister Lucy May, and their brother Ben, 21.

He said: “I can count on one hand the games she has missed since I started playing at York Acorn as a seven-year-old.

“My mum is my motivation. She pushes all three of us to make the most of our abilities and that is definitely the case with my rugby.

“For two years until I could drive, mum took me to Castleford and back from York three or four times a week.

“She never asked anything for it, she was just there for me all the way.”