Dockar-Clay joins Hull KR

Former Junior Kiwis captain Zach Dockar-Clay has joined Hull Kingston Rovers until the end of the 2018 season.

The versatile playmaker moves to KCOM Craven Park from the Penrith Panthers on a two-year deal and is a relative of former Rovers captain and England and Great Britain international Alec Dockar, the Hull-born loose forward who played over 250 matches for the club in the 1940s and 50s.

Raised in New Zealand before coming through the ranks at Parramatta Eels and then Penrith, Dockar-Clay is able to play at hooker or in the halves and is also a former skipper of the Panthers’ Intrust Super Premiership team, the reserve grade to the NRL, earning the club’s Player of the Year award at that level last season.

Zach is a former teammate of Rovers trio Mitch Clark, Andrew Heffernan and Kieren Moss and landed in the UK this afternoon having received the necessary paperwork.

Head Coach Tim Sheens said: “Zach is a talented young player able to play across a number of key positions and he’s had some captaincy experience with both club and country. He can play 7, 6 and 9 and adds depth to the squad in those areas.

“He’s a sharp player, very quick and with good skills, plus he’s got the added bonus of being another goal-kicker.

“Zach’s arrival gives us some security in the spine of the team and he’ll be up-to-speed for Easter when the strength of our squad will get tested.”