After leaving St Helens to join the Huddersfield Giants at the end of 2020, the forward unfortunately lost his father before he could even put on a shirt for his new team.
His career in Huddersfield never really took off as a result, and it has since stagnated.
With just 28 games in three seasons, Ashworth was unable to match his stellar 2019 season for St Helens, which included a Wembley attendance, a Grand Final victory, and his first taste of life on the international scene with the England Knights.
Ashworth is prepared to reclaim that form after joining Hull FC and leaving Huddersfield for a new beginning.
He said to The Yorkshire Post, “That’s where a little bit of the frustration has come from.”
“I think I can return there and I feel like I have a lot to give. Returning to my best rugby is one of the reasons I moved to Hull.
“I’ve moved to a much better place. I feel better intellectually, physically, and joyfully. I have something to prove here.
Ashworth is enjoying a blank slate for the first time in his professional life.
The 28-year-old travelled to and from Huddersfield and St Helens from his residence in Rochdale.
Ashworth decided that Hull was the ideal place to start over, and he is now completely involved in the club and the city.
“I think that was the shift I needed—a new beginning and a break from my comfort zone. My family and all I’ve known have moved away from me.
“Where I was in my career, I wasn’t content. I felt like I needed to push myself and step outside of my comfort zone because I felt like I had a lot more to give. That’s what moving over to Hull does.
It has been a breath of fresh air to come over here. I’m grateful to the boys for their kind welcome, and the people in the city have been friendly as well.”
Ashworth was sent on loan to the Leigh Leopards, Halifax Panthers, and Featherstone Rovers while he was a member of the Giants.
Although Ashworth struggled to establish himself as a regular member of Ian Watson’s pack, he did display flashes of strength in the claret and gold of Huddersfield.
“It was a little bit frustrating because I always want to play rugby but part of it was my own doing as well,” Ashworth added.
“I was having trouble at home. I had dragged the news of my dad’s passing around for a while. When I was not at home, I was probably not doing the correct things.
“I’m loving rugby again and am in a much better place now. As my time in Huddersfield was coming to a conclusion, I thought my rugby was doing okay.
Ashworth, who is 6 feet 3 inches and 103 lbs, is something Hull lacked: size.
This season, he will be part of a new-look group that includes Jayden Okunbor, Franklin Pele, and Herman Ese’ese to give the Black and Whites a more menacing presence.
Ashworth, on the other hand, wants to demonstrate that he has developed into a trustworthy prop.
“I don’t know whether it comes with age and experience but I feel real content at the minute,” he added. “I know my own worth and what I want to achieve. I don’t so much set goals or targets but in my head I know where I want to be at and what I want to do. “I’ve had a tough few years. At one point I felt like I was on top of the world and the next minute I was rock bottom and not really wanting to play rugby – and not understanding why I was playing rugby. “Now I’m finding love for the sport again. I really want to be here.
I can’t express how grateful I am to the boys enough for that reason. I’d like to perform for them too because they’ve been so nice.
“We are at home with our own family if we are not here. Friends are like another family to us because we don’t often get much time to spend with them outside of rugby.”
From taking over from Brett Hodgson at the end of 2022, Tony Smith has prioritised the club’s culture, although he acknowledged that there would not be an instant improvement.
following a string of poor Super League results, Smith was able to evaluate his team and make the necessary adjustments following a difficult inaugural year. This helped Hull get back on track.
It is not anticipated that Smith’s team would contend with the heavyweights of the league in 2024, which Ashworth thinks could be advantageous for them.
“I think a few people will be surprised,” he stated.
“All of the guys here will give it their all, even though not everything will go our way.
“We enjoy staying beneath the radar. We’ll only be concerned with ourselves and try to win a few games.”
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