MARK NICHOLSON AND JACK HANSEN SHOW FUTURE PROMISE!

02 October 2017

We are pleased to announce that two promising young players, who we brought in at the back end of last season, are to stay with us into the 2018 campaign. Both Mark Nicholson and Jack Hansen showed enough promise to convince Head Coach Stuart Littler that they can both become important squad members by continuing their development within a professional set-up.

Jack Hansen is the son of former Lion Lee Hansen, and first emerged at the Leigh Easts club before joining Leigh Centurions as an 18 year old. He then gained experience at North Wales Crusaders who he helped to the League One Cup final last May when they were beaten by Barrow. Jack joined the Lions ahead of last season’s Championship Shield Super 8s and enjoyed a tough debut against Bradford Bulls. His second appearance was over in France against Toulouse.

Stuart Littler said of the promising full-back/half-back, “Jack is a player who we brought in to strengthen the squad ahead of our task to keep the club in the Championship. Jack probably didn’t get the game time he wished for, but he did well in the matches that he did play. The task for Jack now is to nail down a spot in our weekly 17 and to kick on and prove he is the Championship player I know he can be. He comes from a good pedigree and the skills he demonstrates in training prove he has huge potential. Jack has time on his side and over the next few years he will really develop.”

Mark Nicholson is of course the younger brother of Lions’ hooker, Anthony. Like Jack Hansen, Mark is also a product of the Leigh amateur scene having come through the ranks at Leigh Miners Rangers. Mark has also been on the books at Leigh Centurions and joined Swinton ahead of last season’s Championship Shield Super 8s.Second-rower Mark made his debut against Batley at Mount Pleasant, and although the team endured a pretty awful afternoon Mark emerged with great credit with a spirited individual performance. He went on to feature against Sheffield Eagles, Rochdale Hornets and Toulouse.

Stuart Littler said of Mark, “It’s great to get Mark on board again. I thought after coming in for the Championship Shield games, Mark really stepped up with his attitude to both training and the matches themselves. He is keen to learn and has some great physical attributes to work with. Mark has age on his side and I am really keen to see how far we can take his development.”

So welcome back Mark and Jack, we are sure they will mature into important players for Swinton Lions!