SALFORD Red Devils have signed Leigh Leopards forward Sam Stone, despite interest from Melbourne Storm.
The 25-year-old was born in Queensland, Australia and represented two clubs in the NRL – Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast Titans – before he decided to join Leigh.
Across the 2022 season, Stone made 28 appearances in the Betfred Championship, scoring eight tries and played a major role in the Leopards’ promotion to the Betfred Super League.
Stone operates in the second-row and had been linked with a move to Melbourne in the NRL. Stone, however, joins Andrew Dixon as the two new signings that will add quality and depth to Paul Rowley’s squad.
Talking about the acquisition of Stone, Head Coach, Paul Rowley said: “On behalf of all the players and staff I am delighted to welcome Sam to Salford. I’ve admired Sam’s work ethic and attitude from the moment he came over to England and these attributes were very evident in his performances throughout last season.
“Kurt has worked with Sam and as always been very complimentary in his admiration of him. A player with his work ethic and character is exactly the type of player we want in our group.”
Director of Rugby and Operations, Ian Blease added: “It’s really exciting that Sam has decided to join Salford Red Devils and begin his Super League journey.
“He is a young player we’re really excited to develop and we know he’ll fit into an already highly-skilled group seamlessly. Under the coaching of Paul and Kurt, we’ve already seen various players improve tremendously over the last 12 months and we hope he can join that long list during 2023.”
