Ryan signs for the Cougars. : Wed May 20, 2009 9:35 pm
Keighley Cougars have signed 25-year-old prop forward Ryan Benjafield from Co-operative Championship One rivals Workington Town.
The deal secures former Penrith Panther Ryan for the remainder of the 2009 season with a view to extending his contract next year and he signed his contract before training at CougarPark last night.
Although he is Australian-born, Ryan has a British passport and, consequently, he does not count on the overseas quota.
It is a second major signing for the Cougars in seven days as Keighley signed centre Damien Reid from Batley Bulldogs last week.
Benjafield played for Hull FC and Rochdale Hornets before moving to Cumbria and he goes straight into contention for the Cougars team to play a crucial Championship One game at Blackpool Panthers on Sunday.
Barry Eaton, the Cougars Head Coach, said: “I’ve been interested in signing Ryan for quite some time.
“He’s just the kind of forward we’ve been looking for and has a lovely pair of hands in rugby terms.
“His arrival at Cougar Park increases the numbers of front row men I have available for selection and it will certainly step up competition for first team places.
“It’s been proved to us by the bad run of injuries we’ve experienced in the forwards, particularly the front row, in recent weeks that we needed more power up front available.
“We’ve been able to secure Ryan for the Cougars thanks to some financial assistance from our ‘Squadbuilder’ scheme and I’d like to thank them for their support once again”.
Benjafield has played 12 first team games for Town this year. He has been in the starting line up twice and was on the substitutes’ bench in the other games. He has scored one try.