The two Super League players from 2023 still off-contract with 2024 season less than a week away
Left: Dan Hill in action for St Helens in 2022; Right: Dane Windrow prepares for a Wakefield Trinity game in 2023 - Alamy
We are now just five days away from the start of the new Super League season, and there are still two free agents who were involved in the top flight last year that remain without a club heading into the 2024 campaign.
At the start of this month, the duo was a quartet with four free agents from the 2023 Super League season still knocking about.
When newly-promoted Championship side Doncaster snapped up ex-Castleford Tigers young gun Ilikaya Mafi on February 2, the quartet became a trio.
And last night, London Broncos finally confirmed the permanent signing of ex-Wakefield Trinity winger Lee Kershaw following his month-long trial, taking a trio of off-contract aces down to a duo.
Both players who remain free agents five days before the start of the new season were both released by the Super League club they played for in 2023, and are still unattached.
Below, we’ve taken a look at that duo…
Daniel Hill
A Widnes Vikings academy product, utility back Hill joined St Helens from the Chemics ahead of the 2022 campaign, signing a two-year deal.
In his first year with the Saints, the youngster made two senior appearances, featuring home and away against Castleford as head coach Paul Wellens rotated his squad.
Wellens though didn’t call upon the 21-year-old throughout 2023, other than to occupy the 18th man spot – unused – in his squad in a clash with Warrington Wolves last April.
Instead, Hill was limited to senior appearances as a loanee for League 1 outfit North Wales Crusaders – scoring three tries in five appearances – and on dual-registration in the Championship with Swinton Lions, for whom he appeared just once.
The Warrington-born young gun was one of 11 to depart the Red V at the end of the campaign with his contract expiring, and no club have snapped him up since. Notably, Hill is studying a Sports Fitness and Coaching degree with the Open University.
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Dane Windrow
The only other remaining off-contract ace from Super League last year is another youngster in Windrow, who – like Hill – didn’t get the chance to appear in the top flight in 2023.
His senior Wakefield bow instead came in the Challenge Cup against eventual winners of the competition, Leigh Leopards, last May at Belle Vue. In Super League, he was twice the unused 18th man last term – home and away against Hull KR.
Following along the same path as Hill, 21-year-old Windrow featured on loan in the Championship for both Newcastle Thunder & Swinton in 2023.
Making four appearances overall between that pair, with one try to his name for Thunder, Windrow had featured nine times for Oldham – scoring twice – in 2022 and twice for Dewsbury Rams the year prior.
Combining all of the above, the young prop has a senior career tally of three tries in 16 appearances to date, starting 14 of those 16 games across five different clubs. Windrow’s next destination is yet to be confirmed.
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Other free agents who featured in Super League in 2023
As well as the pairing of Hill and Windrow, who were off-contract at the end of 2023 and didn’t have their contracts renewed, there are others who were released for one reason or another, and also remain without a club with under a week until the start of the new Super League season.
Alex Gerrard is the most recently released of those, with Salford Red Devils only confirming his departure earlier this week after omitting him from their 2024 squad numbers released the day before.
As far as we’re aware, there are a total of four players – who were involved in Super League last year – that are now free agents due to release.
We’ve listed the quartet below with the Super League club that released them in brackets as follows:
Alex Gerrard (Salford Red Devils)
Sam Kasiano (Warrington Wolves)
Ken Sio (Salford Red Devils)
Zane Tetevano (Leeds Rhinos)
Elsewhere, London – who won promotion from the Championship in 2023 – let five players go who are yet to join a new club, as far as we understand: Henry Raiwalui, Corey Norman, Max Allen, Euan Parke & Rian Horsman.
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