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Swinton sign Wainwright

18/ 9/2008

SWINTON Lions coach Paul Kidd has hailed this week’s signing of Mike Wainwright from Leigh Centurions as ‘a huge boost for the club’.

The 33-year-old second rower, who has penned a 12-month contract with the Lions, has bags of Super League experience with Warrington Wolves and Salford City Reds.

And Kidd insists that Wainwright still has plenty to offer, especially at League Two level.

Kidd said: "Mike may be coming towards the end of his career but he is still a quality all-round second rower with a particularly good off-load game. He proved that on loan with us recently and the only reason that he went back to Leigh was that we didn’t see the point in paying his wages when we had failed to qualify for the play-offs.

"Mike is the ultimate professional and his signing is a huge boost for the club.

"He has always looked after himself really well and I am sure that he will be a big player for us next season.

"He is also the ideal person for our many young forwards to learn from. He is a great talker out on the pitch.

"We have a very young squad of players and they would certainly be wise to listen to any advice that Mike has for them."

Wainwright’s signing takes the number of Swinton players signed up for next season to 10.

And Kidd has made it clear that strengthening in the forward and centre departments are his recruitment priorities for next season.

Kidd has now decided on the 2008 squad members that he wants to release.

But he refuses to reveal the identities of those players until he has conveyed their fate on a one-to-one basis, which is something that he had not done when the Advertiser went to press last night, Wednesday, September 17.