STUART Littler, our head coach, has described Emmerson Whittel’s new two-year deal as “a great start” to the club’s signing activity for next season.
The Roughyeds’ team boss said the retention of the 28-year-old back-row forward for 2023 and 2024 was a statement of intent and a sign of things to come.
The club will be in a position to announce more signings in the next few days, but for now Littler is delighted to get ‘Emmy’ under lock and key for the next two years.
He said:
“The highest possible praise I can give him is to call him ‘a winner’. This is a big signing, and the two-year deal is our way of rewarding ‘Emmy’ for all he has done for the club in the season just ended.
“His consistency of performance week in and week out is astonishing.
“We pride ourselves on doing a lot of effort-based stuff in training and ‘Emmy’s’ contribution to it is appreciated by everyone at the club. His work ethic is second to none.
“He faced a lot of competition for our Player of the Year vote from players like Martyn Ridyard, who led us round the park; from Owen Restall, who scored 21 tries; and from Kian Morgan, who has played all over the place for us and has come on in leaps and bounds, be it at centre, half-back or full-back.
“But ‘Emmy’s competitiveness and consistently high level of performance, allied to his work ethic, edged it for him.”
For his part, Whittel is conscious of the fact that he will miss the first four games of next season due to suspension, but he believes one pre-season friendly will count and he is hoping that, like this year, the fixture formula will see the early rounds of the Challenge Cup played before the start of the League One season.
“If things work in our favour I might miss only one league game and I would happily settle for that,” he added.
Two more signings are expected to be announced before the end of the week so watch this space.
