Rugby League: Luke Nelmes joins Oldham from Halifax

Luke Nelmes, a rugged prop, hopes his move from Halifax to Oldham will kick-start his career.

The 24-year-old Huddersfield-born forward has signed a one-year deal to link up with Scott Naylor's squad and his personal target is to help Oldham to get back to the Championship at the first attempt.

He becomes Oldham's first new signing for 2018, having come to the end of a two-year stay at Halifax where, on his own admission, he did not get as much game time as he would have liked.

Oldham believe he is a young forward who will benefit from a fresh start and establish himself as a key member of a pack that will be to the fore of Oldham's bid to make a rapid return to tier two.

Chris Hamilton, chairman, said: "Luke got into Halifax's first-team squad this year, but given the experience possessed by Fax's other front-row men, he found it hard to get a starting place.

"However, he is a big, battling, ball-handling prop whom we are sure will do well for us next season.

"He is keen to learn and keen to establish himself and we are keen to see him do exactly that."

Nelmes played his first rugby as a boy at Newsome Panthers and later moved to Underbank in the National Conference League.

In 2016 he signed to play in the Halifax reserves side. By August he was in the first-team squad and by the end of the 2016 season he had made five appearances off the bench.

Despite his limited experience at senior level, other clubs also spotted his potential and he had options on leaving Halifax and considering his future.

He said: "Oldham fancied giving me a chance. I liked that. I did not play as much as I would have liked to last season, to be honest, but it is my turn now and it would be nice for Roughyeds to kick-start my season .

"I hope to get a lot more games under my belt and help to get Oldham back to the Championship."