Luke Nelmes, our big prop forward and vice-captain, will again be a Roughyed in 2023 after signing a new one year contract.
In the last five years Nelmsy has been with us in two separate stints covering three seasons in total and he elected to stay for at least another season despite an offer to sign elsewhere.
He said:
”Another club came in for me, but after chatting with Chris (chairman Chris Hamilton) it was a no-brainer, to be fair.
“I’ve had three years at Oldham and I’ve got a lot of respect for Chris and everybody else involved with the club.”
Luke has made 65 Oldham appearances and scored nine tries and he is looking to build on last year’s play-off finish.
He added:
“We didn’t have the best of years last year so I think I owe it to myself, as well as the club, to have another year, get some success and hopefully show my worth.
“I think we’ve made some good signings and hopefully with a few more new lads coming in we can definitely be pushing up at the top of the table.
“Stu is a good coach and a good guy. I get along with him and I’m hoping next year we can hit the ground running and improve on last year.”
Head coach Stuart Littler was delighted to keep Nelmsy for another year. He said:
“He adds experience. He’s good around the group and he is art of our leadership team.
“His heart is in Oldham and he’s been with us for two stints now.
“He hit some form coming into the run we had getting into the play-offs. He showed what he was about and we’re delighted to have him on board again.”
For the record, Nelmes first joined the club ahead of the 2018 League One season. He scored five tries in 27 games that year, but 2019 saw him play only in the first game of the season before he ultimately left the club, coming back a couple of years later after a spell with Dewsbury.
He made 21 Championship appearances in 2021 and another 16 in League One last season.
At the age of 29, he’s no ‘young blood’ any more but, as the old saying goes, there’s no substitute for experience.
