OLDHAM have signed winger Luke Forber from financially-troubled second-tier rivals North Wales Crusaders.
Forber has a record of 61 tries in 59 career matches with Rochdale Hornets and, since the start of this year, North Wales.
He’s the seventh player to leave Crusaders in the space of a week after Cole Oakley, Joe Baldwin (both Salford), Josh Eaves (Swinton), Ant Walker, Jayden Hatton (both Hunslet) and Greg Eden (Bradford, loan).
Forber has been selected in coach Alan Kilshaw’s squad for Sunday’s clash with Workington at Bower Fold.
Kilshaw was happy to preside over a history-making performance against former club Hunslet in the 1895 Cup as eleven Roughyeds players scored tries in the same match for the first time.
But he also pointed out the flaws which contributed to the visitors scoring four of their own in a first-round tie at Bower Fold in Stalybridge which finished 72-24 – after on 52 minutes, being still in the balance at 30-24 to the hosts.
Kilshaw, who bossed Hunslet between July 2021 and September 2023, saw Matty Ashurst, Jaron Purcell, Cole Geyer, Jake Bibby (twice), Jack Walker, Bayley Liu, Riley Dean, Ben Davies, Owen Farnworth, Warrington loanee Luke Thomas and Ryan Lannon cross the line, with Dean landing all twelve conversions.
Oldham had boasted ten different try-scorers on six previous occasions, and Kilshaw, whose side will host Midlands Hurricanes in the 1895 Cup quarter-finals on the weekend of May 16/17, said: “We have to be happy with scoring that many times.
“I know his side can post points, and in the last 30 minutes or so, we did really well, but there were things before that we need to fix up.”
Hunslet led 18-12 on the half-hour, and Kilshaw continued: “I thought we were a bit scratchy in the first half.
“An interception try (early on by Billy Jowitt) I can cop, but the crash-overs not so much. We have a habit of giving teams momentum, and we need to stop that.”
With Bower Fold unavailable, Oldham will take their home Championship clash with Doncaster on Sunday, May 10 to Sedgley Park Rugby Union Club. They played one match there last year.