Halifax Panthers forward makes Championship switch on loan
Halifax Panthers forward Cole Oakley has made the switch to Championship rivals Dewsbury on an initial two-week loan.
Oakley, 21, has previously had spells at Warrington, Newcastle Thunder and Rochdale.
The back-rower made the move to The Shay during the off season from Thunder, but has struggled to find game time.
A former Rylands Sharks and Woolston Rovers junior, Oakley featured for the Halifax Panthers during pre-season. He has yet to break into the starting line up at Halifax Panthers.
Halifax Panthers boss has say on departing forward
Halifax head coach Simon Grix said: “Cole will go to Dewsbury to get some minutes under his belt.
“With the reserves at Huddersfield only just starting up, he has had one game there, so very little time on the field in the last month really after a pretty solid pre-season.
“We’ve got good seniors playing as starters in those positions, so chances have been hard to come by so far for Cole. This provides an opportunity to play at Championship level, which will do him good and provide us both a yardstick.”
Oakley made the move up north with Newcastle for the 2021 season from Warrington, where he was a graduate of their academy. He made nine appearances for the club, crossing for one try. He also enjoyed a short loan spell with League 1’s Rochdale Hornets in the same season under Matt Calland.
✍️ | Dewsbury Rams are pleased to announce the loan signing of second rower Cole Oakley.
🐏 | The 21-year-old joins on an initial two-week loan deal from @HalifaxPanthers and has previously had spells at Warrington, Newcastle and Rochdale. #UTR | #RamsFam pic.twitter.com/0kvGUioemN
— Dewsbury Rams (@DewsburyRams) March 17, 2022
Championship news
Championship club York City Knights have re-signed forward Joe Porter on a one-year deal after he recovered from a season-ending ACL injury in 2021.
Porter, 29, has made 74 appearances for the Knights since making his debut in 2017 after initially arriving from community club York Acorn.
Meanwhile, Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e has returned to Sheffield Eagles on a one-month loan deal from Keighley Cougars.
He joins the club to replace the injured Josh Guzdek. The starting full-back picked up an injury against Hunslet Club Parkside in the Challenge Cup.
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