Roughyeds swoop for young Aussie

AUSTRALIAN David McKay has signed a one-year deal with Oldham having come through a successful trial period at the club.

The 21-year-old half-back or hooker, who has been training with the squad for a number of weeks, was being kept under wraps by the club while an assessment was made on whether to offer him a deal or not.

A former South Sydney Juniors player in the well-regarded Jersey Flegg Cup competition, McKay (pictured) holds a Maltese passport and therefore doesn’t count on the overseas quota.

“He is strong, has decent size on him and is good with ball in hand as well as defensively,” said Roughyeds chief executive Chris Hamilton.

“He has been over here for a while with a view to getting a chance with us, which he has earned.”

McKay, who is based in Leigh, will bolster coach Tony Benson’s options for the hooking role which already has Simeon Hoyle, Gary Sykes, Phil Joseph and Thomas Coyle as candidates, while also offering competition to the Coyle brothers and Neil Roden in the halves.

While McKay could give Roughyeds fans the first glimpse of what he can do this weekend in the friendly game at Swinton, front rower Richard Mervill has “no chance” of turning out at Sedgley Park, according to Benson.

The former Keighley player’s knee problem is responding well to treatment and isn’t causing too much concern, but it is felt that to field him at this stage would represent an unnecessary risk.

It is a similar story with fellow pack man Paul Highton, who is back in full contact training following wrist surgery but isn’t yet ready to run out in the colours of his home-town club for the first time.

Young professional Chris Clarke, meanwhile, will be out for a couple of months after re-breaking his wrist.