Sheffield Eagles boss Mark Aston hoping to keep his contracted players with new sponsor in place

During the back end of the 2016 campaign the Eagles gave all members of their squad the option to go elsewhere, with the club in no position to offer them a future as they looked for new ownership.

Now, with the club confirming a new ‘sponsor’ will eventually be in place, the situation has changed - and it would seem the majority of last season’s squad are still with the Eagles.

“We have the squad at this moment in time, but the sad thing is that whilst we have been in a mess, we told them they can look out for new clubs in case there was no Sheffield Eagles,” Aston told The Star.

“At this stage we have a good number here, I have had to speak with them and tell them where we are at and what we are doing. I have been as honest as I can be throughout the year.”

The question still remains whether the Eagles will be part-time or full-time. Previous Chief Executive John Whaling had maintained to exist the club would need to be part-time, but following his departure Aston has yet to confirm the status which could have a big bearing on his squad.

“I have told them what the options are, and if we have to go back to part-time then I want the people who are contracted,” he added.

“We have 13 players that are contracted to Sheffield Eagles, I would like to think we can keep the majority of them.

“That will give me a nucleus to build around. Last year we changed 12 players, in an ideal world we would only want to change five or six this year.”