Steve roped back in

STEVE ROPER . . . experience.

Oldham will retain the services of experienced half-back Steve Roper in the Kingstone Press Championship division next season

Roper has signed a new one-year contract, giving coach Scott Naylor the opportunity to perm any two half-backs from three – Roper, club captain Lewis Palfrey and new signing Danny Grimshaw from Hunslet Hawks, who has already played more than 50 games in the Championship.

Palfrey and Roper have played together for the last season and a half, but head coach Naylor demonstrated his liking for having a third half-back in his squad when he recruited 19-year-old David Hewitt, on loan from St Helens, midway through the promotion campaign.

The young Saint scored five tries in half a dozen appearances as Naylor rotated his squad, but he has clearly gone for a more streetwise, battle-hardened approach in putting together his Championship squad by bringing in 29-year-old Grimshaw and offering a new contract to Roper, who will be 29 next month.

“I’m really pleased Steve has signed again because he has loads of experience and he has shown in the past season and a half that he works well with Lewis Palfrey,” said Naylor.

“He is a useful goalkicker, his defence has improved massively since he came to us, and his vast knowledge of the game means that he fully understands what I want from the team in any given situation or in whatever game plan we are using. That’s a very good quality to have, especially in a half-back.”

Roper has played previously in tier two, with Widnes. He said: “It will be tough and it will be a completely different sort of challenge to what we’ve been through in the last couple of seasons. But we certainly don’t need to be in awe of it.”