Sheffield Eagles: Aston's dismay as red tape blocks swoop for Aussie ace

The 24-year-old had agreed terms to join the Eagles but the move was blocked by the Rugby League authorities, with Henry appearing not to meet the required appearances for his move to be rubber stamped.

The former Gold Coast Titans ace has had an injury ravaged 2015 which would appear to have cost him a move to England, although applications can be accepted under ‘Discretionary Requirements’ but the Eagles’ pleas look to have fallen on deaf ears.

It comes as a blow to Aston who has been looking to bring in an experienced half-back to help guide new signing Dave Hewitt and son Cory.

“Somebody one day will explain to me how some can be accepted and some cannot,” Aston told The Star.

“He has played more games than some people in this country who are currently playing at this level and at Super League.

"It is something that I will be bringing to the attention of a lot of people.

“He has signed the contract with us, on that score there weren’t any problems.

"He has been texting me repeatedly about coming here, and he is absolutely mortified that it hasn’t happened.

"The kid has been unfortunate with injuries, but he had the chance to go to New Zealand Warriors and Parramatta to have a pre-season, but he wanted to come here and try and have an injury free season.”

Aston watched his side record an impressive victory over Dewsbury Rams in their first pre-season outing last Sunday, and is still looking to add two new faces before the start of the 2016 season against Workington on February 7th.

Whilst it would appear that he will now have to look elsewhere to boost his half-back position, he admits that Henry’s representatives are still looking into the matter.

“I feel filthy about it, but I am filthy about a lot of things in the game” he fumed.

“His agent is now looking to take it to the next level, and rightly so.

“We will carry on now, his agent is looking into it and if anything can be done then I will support him 100%.

“We will have a look at what is available and what we think they can add to us. We don’t need to panic or rush, we need to make sure that we get it right.”