Young shelves Australia plans to stay with Thunder

League 1 Young Player of the Year Lewis Young has signed a new one-year deal at Newcastle Thunder.

Young, 22, scored 20 tries in 24 appearances last season and has dropped plans to relocate to Australia to commit his future to the club.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed the last 2 years here at Thunder and that is why I am pleased and happy to be staying for another year.

“Australia has been on the cards all year but seeing the club’s ambitions for the next couple of years has been a massive factor in my decision to stay.

“All the lads feel that we can go one step further next season and hopefully we can be challenging somewhere close to the top.  And I’m really excited to be a part of that!”

The former Redhill ARLFC junior hails from Castleford and has been with Thunder since the middle of 2016.

Head Coach Jason Payne said: “I’m really pleased that Lewis has decided to stay with us for another year, its a real statement of intent from us considering the amount of interest there was from other clubs.

“Lewis is a hugely talented player that I have been coaching for 5 years now at Thunder and Northumbria University.  

“It has been great to see him develop over this period and what’s exciting is that he still has tons of improvement in him. His versatility also means we have options to play him at fullback, hooker or in the halves.

“He worked really hard this year and has been given lots of individual recognition which he deserves; I’m looking forward to what he can produce in 2018.”

Young is Thunder’s seventh signing for the new campaign, joining Ben Pointer, Tom Capper, David Weetman, Liam McAvoy, Vincent Rennie and Evan Simons in the squad for 2018.

Photo courtesy of Chris Lishman Photography