Boults back for his fourth stint

Jason Boults: Agreed a new deal with the Roughyeds.

OLDHAM Roughyeds chairman Chris Hamilton saluted Jason Boults after the front row signed for a fourth season.

The 26-year-old Yorkshireman has put pen to paper on a new one-year deal and is the third specialist prop to commit himself to the club following on from Wayne Kerr and young newcomer Ben Mellor, while the versatile Craig Robinson can also operate up front as well as in the back-row.

A resilient and consistent performer, the former Bradford Bulls Academy and Halifax man has become a firm favourite with the Roughyeds management, making 78 appearances out of a possible 101.

And Hamilton revealed that Boults was more than happy to stay at the club and help in their quest to win promotion from Co-op Championship One.

The Roughyeds chief said: “Jason hadn’t even spoken to any other club because all he ever wanted was to stay at Oldham.

“He has been a key man for the past three seasons and, as his playing record shows, he is not one of those players who seem to pick up a lot of injuries.

“He is now preparing for his fourth season with us so I suppose it’s fair to say that we know as much about him as he knows about the club.

“As a prop, he is capable of coping with a lot more game time than many players in that most demanding of positions. He is extremely resilient, and he also gets through a lot of quality work during his extended game time.”

Since coming to Oldham, Boults played in 25 games out of a possible 34 in 2007; 33 out of 37 in 2008; and 20 out of 30 in 2009.

He missed 10 early-season games last season, due to injury and a spell when he was working abroad, but he returned to post 17 appearances in a row, one of which was as a substitute.