Huddersfield Giants have signed prop forward Adam Walne from Super League rivals Salford Red Devils.
The 26-year-old has signed a three-year-deal and Giants head coach Rick Stone was delighted to have signed the former Red Devils player.
“We’re really excited to have signed Adam,” said Stone.
“Chris Thorman and I have spent a lot of time looking at his game and looking at what he can bring to the team.
“He had a good season in 2017, it was interrupted a bit because of injury, but he came back and played the last couple of games.
“He’s a really tough, uncompromising forward who is going to add a lot to us.
“Obviously we’ve lost Sam Rapira but we think Adam is going to be a really good replacement and a great fit for us.
He’s relatively young, he’s mobile and he’s a tough competitor that will add plenty to our team.”
It is a first addition to his squad for 2018 by Stone, with suggestions that there could be further recruits as the club prepare for a return to pre-season training in November.
“Adam is a great addition for us. We haven’t made a lot of changes to our squad this year but this is a really important signing – especially having another senior forward,” added Stone.
“When the opportunity to sign Adam came up we did a bit of digging and knew that he would be a good fit for us.
“Since we’ve met him and had a bit of time with him we’re sure he’s going to be a good player for us and we’re looking forward to seeing him in claret and gold.”
Walne, who started his career with amateurs Leyland, is looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m absolutely buzzing to join the Giants,” said Walne.
“I can’t wait to get started and put in the hard graft in pre-season to hopefully have a massive 2018 with the Claret and Gold.
“Obviously there are a few reasons for joining the Giants. It’s a Club with a lot of history, and the coach Rick Stone has been a big factor in me joining.
““I’ve heard a lot of good things about the club and the players here.
“There are current international players here, top quality lads, it’ll be awesome to play alongside them.
“From what I’ve seen watching last season, they’ve put in some great performances and I can’t wait to join them.
“I picked up an ankle injury last season, which halted my year.
“I was having a pretty good season up until then, so I’m looking forward to 2018 to pick up from where I left off.
“I just want to put in a good pre-season and then get off to a good start, that’s my main focus at the moment, I’m not looking too far ahead.
“2018 is building up to be a big season, so I would urge the fans to come down here as it’s exciting times for the Giants.”
