Roughyeds in double swoop

Lee Greenwoood

PACE, power and no little experience has been added to Oldham’s squad with the twin signings of prop forward Jamie I’Anson and winger Lee Greenwood.

Both players have agreed one-year deals to play for the Roughyeds in the newly re-branded Co-operative Championship One next season.

I’Anson had been due to enter the second year of a two-term deal at Super League newcomers Celtic Crusaders but instead obtained his release to move back north.

A steely and aggressive forward, the 21-year-old becomes the seventh front row man in Tony Benson’s burgeoning squad — a major turnaround, considering that Oldham struggled for numbers in the props throughout last season.

Having started his professional career in the Leeds Rhinos academy, I’Anson played on loan at Featherstone in the latter half of the 2006 season, making nine appearances, before moving to Wales.

He made 28 appearances that year, mainly from the bench, picking up the Young Player of the Year award as the Bridgend side lifted the National League Two title before following that up with another 16 showings in the National League One in 2008.

The arrival of Lee Greenwood sees him reunited with old boss Tony Benson, the two having worked together in Leigh’s Northern Rail Cup winning season of 2006 in which the winger topped the club’s scoring charts with 24 tries.

After leaving Hilton Park at the end of that season, the 28-year-old went on to rejoin Halifax — the home-town club he played for in Super League — managing 23 tries in 29 appearances in 2007 and four in 11 last time around, before being released at the end of the season.

Greenwood becomes the fourth player at Leigh two years ago to have signed a deal to play for Oldham in 2009, following in the footsteps of Rob Roberts, Gary Sykes and Danny Halliwell.

“Lee is a player we have been chasing for a while and ironically enough, he was on Tony’s list when he arrived here as well,” said Roughyeds chief executive Chris Hamilton.

“In the meetings we have had with him, it has become clear that he is signing for all the right reasons.”