The appointment - albeit temporarily - of ‘disgraced’ sprinter Dwain Chambers to struggling rugby league side Castleford Tigers has raised eyebrows in the sporting world.

Whether or not Chambers, who tested positive for the steroid THG in 2003 and served a two-year suspension, will make a good player remains to be seen - certainly my brother as a referee and touch judge will have a new challenge to match his pace! While the issue may have caused some concern among fans, analysing it from a pure PR point of view I think Castleford may have played a blinder.

Like their local compatriots Featherstone Rovers whose ground is named after Chris Moyles which has garnered significant interest in the club, they now have a new team mascot - and a media-savvy one to boot.

As a one-time active and now passive follower of the sport I have often bemoaned its lack of genuine national media platform. Cue Chambers’ arrival and it’s suddenly wall-to-wall coverage. Adopting the old adage ‘there’s no such thing as bad PR’ (there is by the way - see the previous post on Terminal 5) its prominence among sports journalists and therefore the general public has to be a good thing. It certainly will be interesting to see the increase in attendance for his first match - and then how that translates across other grounds’ gate receipts.

Castleford have certainly taken a risk - not all the press coverage has been glowing. But in striking while the media iron was hot and buzzing with intrigue about Chambers’ next move, they may well have created more interest in the game then years of carefully-managed media relations. Stunt PR can - and indeed often does - have a lasting impact. I personally hope this is the case for rugby league.