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14 hours ago
18 November 2022
Swinton Lions RLFC is delighted to confirm that a 2023 Dual Registration agreement has been signed with Super League champions, St Helens.
Having just gained promotion in dramatic fashion, the Lions are now looking to consolidate their place in the Betfred Championship, and a DR relationship with the four-consecutive-times champions St Helens provides an invaluable player development and squad strengthening opportunity.
The Lions’ CEO, Steve Wild, said, “Myself and Allan Coleman recently had a really encouraging and productive meeting over at St Helens with their CEO Mike Rush, Head Coach Paul Wellens and Head of Youth Derek Traynor.
“In agreeing the DR arrangement, not only do we recognise the opportunities for potentially significantly strengthening our player pool for 2023, we also saw it as recognition from extremely knowledgeable people from within the sport as to how far we at Swinton are developing. We are now looking forward to working collaboratively with St Helens, which can only help our own ambitions both on and off the field.
“We have an excellent recent record for helping to develop young players, both through previous DR arrangements and our own efforts, and hopefully the “Saints” that do play for us in 2023 will grasp the opportunity as a crucial part of their own personal development.”
Swinton Head Coach Allan Coleman added, “It’s a fabulous opportunity for our club to work closely with St Helens. The Championship is a very tough and competitive competition so we will need to be strong week in and week out, and working with St Helens will help us so much in that respect.
“St Helens are currently Super League champions and have been for the last four years, and the calibre of players they have in depth is phenomenal. It also shows how we are progressing as a club when top Super League clubs such as Saints want to work with us.”
On behalf of St Helens, Chief Executive Mike Rush said, “I think the Dual Registration between the two clubs makes complete sense. The partnership is a great opportunity for some of our younger lads to get some first team action in the Championship with a good, competitive side, which can only build their experience and hunger to play first team rugby.
“At the same time, it’s a great chance for some of the Swinton players to get some playing time in our set up and specifically in our Reserves, so we’re happy that we can give them that opportunity to them next season.”
Saints Head Coach Paul Wellens added, “Throughout the season this partnership with Swinton will allow some of our players to get some valuable minutes in a really strong competition. We will ensure those players that get the opportunity to play, will uphold the high standards we expect of them when representing Swinton.
“Equally we value the importance of the Reserves competition and having the option to potentially call upon Swinton for some of their players at key times in the season as well as give their players some opportunities to play and train with us can only benefit both Clubs. We are looking forward to working with them in 2023.”
