Oldham and Wigan Warriors announce dual registration deal

Oldham RLFC has confirmed it has agreed a dual-registration partnership with Wigan Warriors for the 2023 season.

Roughyeds have teamed up with Warriors allowing the movement of players between clubs, as well as giving extra playing opportunities and nurturing up and coming talent.

Wigan has one of the best and most renowned academies in the sport and last year the club were unbeaten Grand Final winners at reserve grade.

Oldham have already benefited from Warriors youngsters in the past with the likes of Logan Astley, Tom Forber, Jack Bibby and Alex Sutton all playing for the club in 2022.

Last weekend’s 40-22 win over the Warriors Academy - as well as providing another test before the Doncaster game - gave boss Stuart Littler a closer look at the talents of the Warriors academy and reserve sides.

“We’ve worked hard on this partnership and it will be big for us - Wigan’s recruitment and work within youth rugby is up there with the best, if not the best within the country,” he said.

“We’re all for developing Oldham Rugby League and the more depth in the squad we can get, the better we become.

“It will further challenge people for positions but also if you have an injury or a ban throughout the year, there’s somebody to lean on and utilise if needed.

“I’m a big believer that pressure creates diamonds, so we need people to stand up and show what they’re about.

“It gives us access to developing the coaching side - myself, Shez (assistant coach Brendan Sheridan) and the performance team.

"Both sides can bounce things off each other as they’ll be keeping an eye on our games if their lads are involved.”

Said Shane Eccles, Head of Youth at Wigan Warriors: "Following on from a great link up last season we thought this was a great opportunity for both clubs.

"Several of our players joined up with Oldham last season, it was a great experience for them, all the players came back with positive feedback on how the club treated them and the game time was invaluable.

"Going into this season we see this as being a strong link between the two clubs where our players benefit from playing at this level to help them prepare for the rigours of playing at Super League. 

"Stuart Littler was great with the players last year, he has a lot of coaching experience and will help develop our players for their future career.

"If our players can go to Oldham and have a positive impact for the club then everyone will benefit from this link.”

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