League 1 club swoop to sign young overseas duo from Down Under

Ben Olawumi
League 1 match ball

A League 1 match ball

League 1 club Workington Town have snapped up young duo Levi Atiga and Cooper Howlett from Queensland Cup outfit Western Clydesdales, with the first of the pair now in the UK.

With the club formerly recognised as Toowoomba Clydesdales, they are now headed up by ex-Canterbury Bulldogs utility back Jason Alchin. His side finished bottom of the Q Cup ladder in 2024, winning one of their 20 games.

Centre Atiga though managed to score seven tries in 18 appearances at second-grade level for Western in the season just gone.

And lining up in the back-row, team-mate Howlett made just one appearance in the competition in 2024, though has played a total of six Q Cup games having made his debut in 2023, the same year he scored his sole second-grade try to date.

Both overseas talents are 23, and will make the move into the British game together come 2025 with Workington.

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League 1 club swoop to sign young overseas duo from Down Under

The pair’s signings were announced by Town, who have just received investment from a wealthy Warrington-based duo, earlier this month as the Cumbrian outfit detailed how their squad was shaping up ahead of the start of pre-season.

With the League 1 club’s recruitment tally in double figures, the duo were the only two from overseas – with the other new recruits coming from Whitehaven and the community game.

On Saturday afternoon, the club posted a picture of Atiga’s arrival in the UK on social media, with the young back set to link up with his team-mates next month.

The post – on their X account (@XX) – reads: “Huge Workington Town welcome to exciting New Zealander and outside back Levi Atiga ‼️🏉🤝🏉” 

Centre Atiga actually spent some time in the youth setup of Super League side Catalans Dragons back in 2022, though never came close to a first-team debut during his time in Perpignan.

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League 1 Cooper Howlett

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