Mathers in Wakefield switch

Wakefield have signed Richie Mathers on a season long loan after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Castleford.

Mathers, 28, only joined Castleford at the beginning of last season having lost his first team place at Warrington to Brett Hodgson.

But following the arrival of Ian Millward as Tigers head coach, Mathers has been allowed to leave the PROBIZ Coliseum on a no re-call loan, and will be able to play against Castleford for the Wildcats.

A Leeds academy graduate, Mathers was part of the Rhinos Grand Final winning squad in 2004 before leaving for the NRL in 2007, where he played for Gold Coast Titans.

He returned to Super League with a short-lived spell at Wigan, before moving on to Warrington, who he helped to win two Challenge Cups.

Wildcats head coach Richard Agar said: “Richie will bring a number of qualities to our club.

“He’s highly respected by his peers and he’s been a winner throughout his career.

“He’ll set a great example as we try and establish our own standards and cultures within the club.

“He’s a first class professional on and off the field and we’re really happy to have him here.

“Obviously he fills a specialist position for us and we very much view him coming here as a senior player.”