Leeds Rhinos have announced the signing of Warrington Wolves forward Dom Crosby on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Crosby joined Warrington from hometown club Wigan, with whom he won two Super League titles, ahead of the 2017 campaign but made just 17 appearances for the Wolves due to personal reasons and a shoulder problem which was operated on during the off-season.
However, he is off contract at the end of 2018 and is rumoured to be taking up a permanent deal with another Super League club, which is not Leeds, for next year and beyond so has been granted an early release from Warrington and makes the move to Headingley as he looks to aid the Rhinos’ fight to either sneak in to a top eight position or avoid relegation in the Qualifiers.
Leeds have been looking to bring in a forward for a number of months now following the retirement of Australian prop Keith Galloway, who decided to hang up his boots just weeks into the season, leaving them short in the pack especially as Adam Cuthbertson, Brad Singleton and Mitch Garbutt have all had lengthy injuries.
Crosby will make his debut for the Rhinos when they take on Widnes Vikings on Friday night, taking the place of Stevie Ward in the 19-man squad after he was ruled out with concussion.
On his move, the 27-year-old said: “I am really looking to playing for the Rhinos and getting out there with the boys tomorrow night. It is an exciting time for the club with a new management team in place and hopefully I can come in and help the team out where I can.”
Director of Rugby Kevin Sinfield added: “We are delighted to be able to bring in a player of Dom’s experience into our group. He was spent some time around the lads and I know he is keen to get out there and show what he can do in a Rhinos shirt.”
In his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Francis Cummins’ Vikings, Sinfield also described Crosby as “uncompromising” in the way he plays the game and said he had been impressed by his “hunger to take on the challenge at the Rhinos.”
