Wigan Warriors announce dual-registration partnership with Oldham Roughyeds for the 2023 season

Wigan Warriors have announced a dual-registration partnership with Oldham Roughyeds for the 2023 season.
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The link with the League One club will offer some of the club’s younger players an opportunity to gain regular first team experience.

As part of the agreement, players on dual-registration are eligible to train and play with both clubs, but are restricted to just one fixture per scheduled round in any given week.

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Head of youth Shane Eccles said: “Following on from a great link up last season we thought this was a great opportunity for both clubs.

Wigan Warriors have announced a dual-registration agreement with Oldham RoughyedsWigan Warriors have announced a dual-registration agreement with Oldham Roughyeds
Wigan Warriors have announced a dual-registration agreement with Oldham Roughyeds

"Several of our players joined up with Oldham last season, it was a great experience for them, all the players came back with positive feedback on how the club treated them and the game time was invaluable.

"Going into this season we see this as being a strong link between the two clubs where our players benefit from playing at this level to help them prepare for the rigours of playing at Super League.

"Stuart Littler was great with the players last year, he has a lot of coaching experience and will help develop our players for their future career.

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"If our players can go to Oldham and have a positive impact for the club then everyone will benefit from this link.”

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Dual-registration was first brought into the game in 2013, with Wigan holding previous partnerships with Swinton Lions, London Skolars and Newcastle Thunder.

The latest agreement comes off the back of the recent pre-season friendly between Wigan Warriors Academy and the Roughyeds, where the League One side ran out 40-22 winners.

Oldham head coach Stuart Littler said: “We’ve worked hard on this partnership and it will be big for us - Wigan’s recruitment and work within youth rugby is up there with the best, if not the best within the country.

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“We’re all for developing Oldham Rugby League and the more depth in the squad we can get, the better we become. It will further challenge people for positions but also if you have an injury or a ban throughout the year, there’s somebody to lean on and utilise if needed."

“I’m a big believer that pressure creates diamonds, so we need people to stand up and show what they’re about.

"It gives us access to developing the coaching side - myself, Shez (assistant coach Brendan Sheridan) and the performance team.

"Both sides can bounce things off each other as they’ll be keeping an eye on our games if their lads are involved.”

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