Catalans Dragons have signed French international Benjamin Jullien from Warrington Wolves for an undisclosed fee.
Jullien has signed a two-year deal with the club after spending the last two seasons with Warrington.
Steve McNamara has made a concerted effort to retain and recruit French internationals following his arrival at the club, with Antoni Maria also re-joining the club as part of their recruitment drive for next year.
Jullien made 33 appearances over two seasons for the Wolves and was highly-rated at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
But the 22-year-old has secured a return to France, and McNamara said: “Benjamin is exactly the type of player and person that the future of our club will be built on.
“His honest, hardworking and professional approach is what the Catalans club was founded upon. Every decision we make both in recruitment and retention will be based upon these values. Benjamin had an outstanding breakthrough season in 2017 with Warrington and his decision to join us is great for our organisation.”
Warrington CEO Karl Fitzpatrick claims Jullien had requested to leave the club due to work reasons.
“Ben and his representative explained that he did not wish to return to Warrington as he needed to be closer to his family,” he said.
“Although we discussed a number of options Ben simply wanted to return to France. We respect Ben’s decision to be closer to his family and subsequently agreed a transfer fee with Catalan. We wish Ben all the best at his new club.”
He is Catalans’ fourth signing ahead of 2018, joining Maria, Samisoni Langi and Lewis Tierney in moving to the club.