There’s been some cracking mid-season Super League signings over the years and I do feel it’s a good ability to have.
You see the excitement deadline day brings in football and it makes sense in rugby league that clubs should be able to do it, too, given the sheer length of our season. Coaches can refresh their squad while players can move from clubs where maybe it just hasn’t worked out and they can get back to doing what they love doing: playing.
Famously, there was also the Andrew Johns deal at Warrington while I was at Bradford Bulls when we signed Adrian Morley and he helped us win the 2005 Grand Final. We also brought in Ian Henderson that year in mid-season. He really helped us kick on. There’s been others like Ali Lauitiiti who had the same effect on Leeds Rhinos when he joined them in 2004 while Stu Fielden left Bradford for Wigan for the other reason in 2006: to help them avoid relegation.
