Sheffield Eagles have signed former Leeds and London backrower Elliot Minchella.
The 19-year-old is the latest addition to Mark Aston’s full-time squad for 2016, and the Eagles coach is convinced Minchella has what it takes to return to the very top of the sport.
Aston said: “He’s still only 19 – he was a 17 year old when he first broke into Leeds’ first team, so he was obviously held in high regard there.
“He hasn’t done much wrong since then. He’s been an Academy international and last year was a stand-out player for London Broncos in the Championship.
“He’s certainly ready to handle this level of rugby, and I’ve been massively impressed with him since he’s come here.
“His attitude and skills set are first class, and his knowledge of the game is pretty high for somebody so young.
“I think he’s got a big future, with the potential to play Super League again at the highest level, there’s no doubt about that.
“Now it’s about what makes him tick, and at the moment he has a smile as wide as his face and he’s really enjoying it here.
“We’ve had a chat about how it’s time for him to write his own story from now on, and we have planned the next phase in his development.
“He can play second row or loose forward, but he also has the attributes to play stand-off if we need him to.
“There might be certain games where I want to go big and strong at loose forward, although I must say I like having a 13 that can run and play a bit and Elliot can certainly do that.”