Castleford coach Terry Matterson has defended the decision to offer disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers a trial with the last-placed Super League club.

Chambers, a pariah in British sporting circles since his positive test to the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) in 2003, has previously trialled with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League and played with the Hamburg Sea Devils in the now defunct NFL Europe.

But the 29-year-old has little in the way of rugby league experience to draw upon, prompting many commentators in the UK to dismiss his proposed shift to the Tigers as a stunt. Matterson, though, saw no harm in his club's courtship of the former European 100 metres champion. The former Brisbane Broncos and NSW lock, who has been named as a potential successor to Wayne Bennett at the Broncos next season, was adamant Chambers deserved a second chance.

"If the bloke can play, then why not have a look at him?" Matterson told the Herald. "I guess it's a bit like what Balmain tried with Darren Clark, but that was a long time ago. It's come out of left-field a bit and it will be interesting to see how it goes. There has been a lot of talk about it, but my focus will still be on next week's game."

Matterson said he had yet to meet with Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen about the Brisbane job, despite previously expressing interest in the position.