G-force commits

VERSATILE vice-captain Sammy Gee is the latest Oldham RL player to pin his colours to the Roughyeds’ mast for next season.

Aged 28 and one of the squad’s senior citizens, play-anywhere Gee has signed a one-year contract to take him into a fourth season, Oldham’s first in the Championship division.

In 60 of a possible 77 games since he first signed, Wigan-born Gee has played with distinction at hooker, full-back, centre and loose-forward, but a two-match ban meant he didn’t figure at Oxford when Roughyeds lifted the League Leaders’ Shield or in the next game when Naylor’s men took promotion.

His suspension for being sent off at Newcastle — for the first time in his career — opened the door to others, who grabbed their chance.

“It’s a squad game and these things happen,” he said. “It was a fantastic few days for everyone at the club, crowning a great season, and now we push on to see what we can do in the Championship.

“I had no hesitation in signing again because it’s a homely club, like a family. We all get on with each other and you just want to keep coming back year after year. I’ve never felt like that anywhere else since I left my amateur club.

“It’s going to be tough next season, but if Kane Daniels is still with us we’ll have one of the best conditioners in the business. I think we’ll surprise a few people.”

Naylor said: “Sammy played in different positions all over the park and he didn’t look out of place in any of them. That’s a measure of the naturally-gifted player that he is. I could put him anywhere and rely on him to do a good job.”