Testimonial for proud Roden

LEGENDARY STATUS . . . Oldham’s recently-retired Neil Roden.

ROUGHYEDS legend Neil Roden has been granted a 12-month testimonial by the RFL.

It will run from January 1, and will give the 33-year-old former club captain a calendar year in which to celebrate his 11 seasons at Oldham with a series of fund-raising events.

In his two spells at the club - 2000-2004 and 2007-2013 – he scored 113 tries in 296 appearances.

The half-back, who has announced his retirement, said he owed much to club chairman Chris Hamilton for acting as his testimonial advocate in talks with the sport’s governing body.

He said: “I’m proud of my club records. And given that these days players don’t seem to stay at one club for as long as I did I can’t see them being beaten.”

Hamilton and coach Scott Naylor have hinted that Roden might be found a new role at the club next season.

Coach Naylor said: “Neil deserves all the credit he gets. Much of his final season was spent as a valued member of the backroom team and he handled the transition brilliantly. He was as professional about it as anyone could ever be and I’d like to keep him at the club.”