By DOUG THOMSON
GEORGE KING has no doubt James Batchelor will be a hit at Hull KR.
The second rower is following in the prop’s footsteps by moving along the M62 from Wakefield.
Batchelor, who made his Trinity debut in 2017, has signed a two-year contract with Rovers, who have also snapped up Wakefield frontrower Yusuf Aydin on the same length of deal.
King, currently captaining Ireland in their World Cup bid, played alongside both during his two-year Trinity stint (Aydin made his debut in 2020).
And the ex-Warrington man said: “They will both add to the squad.
“James is a good player with plenty of experience under his belt, and his attitude to training and working to make himself better is excellent.
“Yusuf was just starting to emerge as I left, and you could see he had loads of potential.
“He has developed his game over the last couple of years, which will continue, and he’s got a good few games under his belt now.”
Rovers have also recruited winger Louis Senior from Huddersfield and centre Tom Opacic from Parramatta Eels and forwards Sam Luckley (from Salford), Rhys Kennedy (Brisbane Broncos) and Jesse Sue (Newcastle Knights) for their first season under the command of Australian Willie Peters.
The former Newcastle Knights assistant coach has signed a three-year contract and will have Danny McGuire as his right-hand man.
Peters starts his reign in earnest tomorrow (Tuesday, October 25), when the first batch of players (minus those involved in the World Cup and those coming from Down Under) report back for pre-season training.
Halfback Mikey Lewis and hooker Jez Litten will return buoyed by their recent England Knights involvement while backrowers Dean Hadley and Luis Johnson, prop Greg Richards and halfback Jordan Abdull will all be involved in testing by the club’s strength and conditioning team as they continue their comeback from injuries.
Hadley is working his way back from shoulder surgery while Johnson has had an operation to correct a pectoral problem.
Richards and Abdull have had hamstring and thigh issues respectively.
