Tim Sheens has revealed that he had a key influence in the arrival of Justin Carney and believes he will add a “new dimension” to Hull Kingston Rovers.
The Australian winger, 28, arrived at the Championship club following his departure from Salford Red Devils following the culmination of an internal investigation.
Sheens admitted that he was delighted with his arrival.
“I was involved heavily in making sure he came here once I realised he was going to be leaving Salford,” he told the club’s official website.
“I recruited him over there as well so we’re really happy to have him on board.
“He’ll bring a really strong dimension to our backfield which he’s noted for. He’s still serving his suspension so that will give us a bit of time to work with him first, but he’ll get plenty of football with us before the Eights.
“He’ll be the biggest outside back we’ll have and he’s noted for his yardage runs. You like your wingers to score tries as well which he can do but he prides himself on what he adds out of yardage and getting his teams on the front foot.”
Sheens continued: “He’s a Super League quality player and we want to be out of this division don’t we, so we need to be starting to recruit people who we think can automatically come in and play Super League if we get there.
“He’s a great kid as well, he’s what we’d call a country boy back in Australia and what you see is what you get from him. He’s straight forward with you, he’s easy to coach and he loves his football so I think the players will enjoy playing with him and the fans will enjoy watching and cheering him.”