SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard has been reunited with Josh Hodson after signing the centre on a two-year contract.

He worked with the 25-year-old when in charge of Batley Bulldogs, then Castleford Tigers, where the former London Broncos man has spent the last two seasons.

Hodson had a loan stint at Sheffield this year and Lingard said: “He’s a physical threat, a presence on an edge, very strong defensively and has some great second-phase offloads in attack.

“After the last couple of seasons where he’s not really played a lot, it’s a chance for him to really have a good spell with us where he can try and build that confidence back. I think Sheffield is the perfect environment for him to be able to do that over the next two years.”

Hodson said: “I really enjoyed my time here on loan, and when the option came up to come back, I thought why not?

“I’ve had Linners at both Batley and Castleford; he knows how to get the best out of me and how I work as a player. I know what his standards are and what he’s expecting of me, so hopefully it makes it really easy for me to kick on straight away here.”