Andy Kain has revealed that a phone call with an old team mate persuaded him to sign for Dewsbury.
The Rams announced the halfback as their latest signing this week, joining the likes of Paul Sykes and Tony Tonks at the Tetley’s Stadium for the 2016 season.
Kain was the subject of interest from other Championship clubs, however a conversation with former Featherstone colleague Kyle Briggs, who had a short spell at the Rams in 2014, swayed his decision.
“I spoke to Briggsy and he said he enjoyed his time at Dewsbury and working under Glenn so that helped me make my decision,” said Kain.
“It was a bit of a late signing and I didn’t know where I was going to go, but Glenn got in touch and wanted to sign me so I was pleased with that. The group has been getting better and better and I think Glenn is a good coach, I’ve certainly heard good things about him.
“I had interest from other clubs, but Dewsbury seemed like the right move for me. Glenn has done good things with the club since he started and has gradually moved the club up the league. We now have a strong squad so hopefully we can have a good season.”
Kain was left in an awkward predicament at the end of the season after relegation to League One with his former club Hunslet. Despite signing a two-year deal with the club at the start of 2015, a clause in his contract meant it was void once the Hawks’ fate was sealed, however with relegation not definite until the latter stages of the season, it meant Kain couldn’t sort his future out, whilst other players had already signed new deals with different clubs.
“Once you get relegated, most contracts are void and you can look elsewhere,” Kain explained.
“With me being at Hunslet last year we didn’t know if we were going to stay up or get relegated, so other players were getting signed yet I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was all up in the air.
“The season went down to the last couple of games, so I couldn’t really look elsewhere because I had another year on my contract. It did make things difficult.”
However, Kain is now ready to focus on the ambitions in place at Dewsbury.
“I would have thought we will be pushing for a top four spot,” he said.
“They had a good year last season and we’ve recruited well. We’ve got a big pack which is especially good for me to play on the back of.
“As a halfback you want a big set of forwards that will get you on the front-foot because it makes your job ten times easier. It’s something I’m looking forward to doing.”
For the Rams to reach the top four however, Kain admits that they must overcome a number of high-quality teams.
“The Championship is tougher than I’ve ever known it at the moment.
“You’ve got a couple of clubs going full-time and the likes of Bradford that weren’t there before. A few years ago there was a few top teams and then the rest were fighting behind them, but now I think everyone can do a job on another team and you can’t afford to just turn up and expect to win because it just won’t happen now. You’ve got to put all your effort in or you’ll come out of the game with a loss.”
