SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard believes breaking a habit of avoiding too many loans has provided a timely boost for the South Yorkshire club.
He now has emerging Huddersfield duo, centre Darius Carter and backrower Jack Billington, as well as Hull KR wing hopeful Harvey Horne at the Steel City Stadium on season-long deals.
“Historically, I’ve not gone down that road that often as a coach, partly because you have less control in some areas,” he explained.
“But we’re in a period of transition regarding the squad, with some players leaving, and we’ve also had situations where we’ve struggled to name a fully-fit 21-man squad.
“I felt we needed to get the numbers up, not just for matches but to make sure players are under pressure to perform and to give us the ability to vary training and do more work on team as opposed individual things.
“Ironically, we’ve had a few players return from injury recently, but I’m still happy to have the loan lads on board.”
Carter and Billington featured in Friday’s 22-18 home defeat by Hunslet.
